A Moment in Time
by Cassie Bones
Summary: What would happen if Booth and Brennan met under different circumstances at different points of their lives. Series of oneshots. Rated T
1. Waiting in Line

**Okay, so after finishing a chapter of **_**Bad**__**Timing**_**, I sort of imagined how cute Booth and Brennan would be as babies, but this won't only be them as babies. This will be a series as one shots that look at if Booth and Brennan met in different circumstances and at different ages. This first one is actually going to be their mothers meeting when they are just babies, in the store. Enjoy!**

Waiting in Line

Lynne Booth rubbed her growing tummy absently as she waited in line at the Children's clothing store, holding her son, Seeley's hand in hers, while he grasped a blue t-shirt and a pair of colourful socks in his hand.

Seeley had recently turned three and had decided to spend the $10 his Pops had given him to buy the pair of 'funny socks' he wanted and a Phillies shirt that his father had suggested he buy since the season was starting up again and he had tickets to a preseason game for them to go to. Seeley had taken his father's words to heart and practically begged Lynne to take him to get the things he wanted, despite the fact that she was now seven months pregnant with her second child. When it was her turn to pay, she stepped up, reaching for her wallet, but dropping it to the floor. She was about to bend over to get it when a voice sounded behind her.

"No, Sweetie, I'll get it." A young, blue-eyed woman said behind her. The woman stepped away from a stroller, where a little blue-eyed baby girl was playing with a rubber ball. Lynne smiled when the woman offered her back her wallet.

"Thank you so much." She said, taking out the money for the purchase. Seeley stopped her, pulling the ten dollar bill out of his own pocket and handing it to her.

Lynne thanked him and put the money on the counter, slyly adding another ten so they would have enough for the purchases.

When the cashier had bagged their things and handed back the change, which Lynne gave to Seeley, she turned back to the woman with the stroller. "Thank you for the help, Miss..."

The woman smiled. "Keenan. Ruth Keenan. Just call me Ruth. And this little angel," she said, motioning towards the little girl who was shaking the ball in her hand. "is my baby, Joy."

Lynne smiled. "Well, thank you, Ruth. And thank you, Joy." She said, smiling sweetly at the baby. Joy smiled and shook the ball harder, causing it to fall out of her hand.

Joy watched as the ball rolled away from her and began to whine, reaching out for it. Seeley saw this and toddled over to where the ball rolled, picking it up and walking back to Joy, handing it over, and smiling when she smiled at him, her blue eyes crinkling when they met his chocolaty brown ones. "Thakku!" she squeaked, taking the ball.

"You're welcome, miss." Seeley said, smiling.

Ruth smiled at him. "What a little gentleman he is." She coos.

Lynne smiles and pats Seeley's head. "I've taught him well." She says, proudly. "She's very smart to be talking at such a young age. How old is she?"

"She's fourteen months old and she _is_ very smart. She's been talking since she was about ten months and she began walking around the same time. She has her father's brains. He's a Science teacher back in Chicago."

"Oh, you're not from around here?" Lynne asked.

Ruth shook her head. "No, his students have Spring Break right now, so we decided to take a vacation with our kids. I have a son, Kyle, who is five now. He's with his father, going to see the Liberty Bell. Do you have any other children?"

Lynne shook her head. "No, just my baby boy Seeley, and the one currently growing inside of me. My husband and I are hoping for a little girl. He's such a sweet man. He would be the perfect father for a baby girl. He'd treat her like a princess."

Ruth laughed. "Well, every little girl is a princess." Ruth said, patting Joy's head. She took out a $20 and handed it to the cashier for a couple of dresses for Joy. "My husband, Max, sure treats Joy like one with all the toys he bought her for her birthday."

Lynne laughed. "He sounds like a terrific man. I hope Joseph is like that with our little girl."

Ruth smiled, taking the bag from the cashier and following Lynne to the door. "I'm sure he will be."

Lynne smiled, then suddenly placed a hand on her stomach and smiled. "Looks like somebody is hungry." She said.

Seeley put his hand on her stomach and grinned. "Mommy! She's kicking!" Lynne smiled at him.

"How about we get something to eat? Huh, Seeley?"

Seeley nodded. Lynne turned to Ruth. "Would you like to join us?"

Ruth nodded. "I'd love to. Max and Kyle aren't expected back for another two hours so this will give us something to do."

Lynne nodded, leading the way towards the Diner as she continued to talk to her new friend and Seeley bounced along next to Joy's stroller, smiling at the little girl, who he could already see, at age 3, was going to become a good friend.

**I hope you all liked this. Please REVIEW!**


	2. First Day

**Okay, this one takes place in a DC Kindergarten where Booth and Brennan are both five years old. Enjoy!**

First Day

Temperance Brennan clutched her mother's hand as they walked into the small room filled with children, playing and running and just having a great time. Temperance, on the other hand, was feeling nervous about her first day of school as she looked at all the laughing children around her. She stepped closer to her mom and turned her head to hide into her side.

Christine Brennan chuckled and kneeled down next to her daughter, who took the opportunity to wrap her arms around her waist and bury her head in her chest.

"Aww, baby," she said, rubbing the little girl's back, "don't you wanna go make some new friends?"

Temperance shook her head. "No." She said, her word coming out muffled.

"But, I think somebody wants to be friends with you." Christine said as she spotted a little girl with a smock over her dress coming towards them.

The little girl had long black hair tied in a bow and squinty brown eyes. Her smile was wide, though, when she tapped Temperance on the shoulder. Temperance turned slowly and looked into the eyes of the little black-haired girl.

"Hi!" the little girl said, with a big smile and wave. "I'm Angela Montenegro. What's your name?"

"I'm Temperance." Temperance said. "Temperance Brennan."

"That's a _long_ name. Do you have a nickname?" Angela asked.

Temperance nodded. "You can call me Tempe. Everybody does."

"That's a nice name." Angela commented. "You can call me Angie. Everybody does. Except my Daddy. He calls me 'Pretty Lady'." She paused. "Do you wanna come help me paint a picture for him?"

Tempe nodded, smiling, then turned to Christine. "Bye, Mommy. I love you." She leaned up and kissed her mother's cheek.

Christine smiled. "I love you more. Bye, baby girl." Tempe waved goodbye to her mother as she followed Angie to an easel on the far side of the room.

"What are you painting?" Tempe asked.

"I'm painting him a guitar." Angie said, picking up a paintbrush and continuing a surprisingly good painting of an acoustic guitar.

"Wow," Tempe breathed, "you're a good painter."

Angie smiled at her. "Thanks. My Daddy says I get it from my Mommy. She was a really good painter, too."

Tempe nodded and started setting up her own easel. Dipping her brush into paint, she began to paint a flower on a piece of blue paper.

When she finished, she took a step back to admire her work. Angie looked too. "Wow," she said, "that's a nice Daisy."

Tempe was about to thank her when a pair of hands came out of nowhere and pushed her down.

"Hey!" Angie said, rushing to Tempe's side as she glared at the little boy who pushed her, who was now ripping her painting off the easel and replacing it with a new one. "What did you do _that_ for?"

The little boy ignored her and she stood up, stalking over to him and pushing him. He barely took a step back, turning to her and glaring at her, reeling his arms back to knock her to the ground, but somebody came up behind him and pushed him aside.

"Hey!" he yelled, looking up at his attacker. "What did you do that for, Seeley?"

Seeley Booth glared at him. "You _know_ why, Tim! Why did you push that girl?"

"Because I wanted to paint!" Tim shouted back, standing up.

"And? Couldn't you have _asked_?" Seeley said.

"I didn't feel like it." Tim said, crossing his arms.

"Too bad," Seeley said, stepping into his space; Seeley was about two inches taller. "You either say 'excuse me' or don't paint. Now, apologize."

Tim glared at Seeley, and then turned to Tempe and Angela. "I'm sorry." He grumbled, before stalking away.

Seeley turned to Tempe, who had stood up and was now rubbing tears out of her eyes. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Tempe nodded. "I'm okay." She said, quietly. Angie put her arm around her and squeezed.

"Thanks." Angie said to Seeley.

Seeley smiled. "You're welcome. I'm Seeley, by the way. Seeley Booth. What are your names?"

Angie smiled. "I'm Angie Montenegro and this is Tempe Brennan." She said, squeezing Tempe's shoulder.

"Hi, Angie. Hi, Tempe." The girls waved at him. "So, you wanna come play with me and my friend, Jack?"

"Jack and me." Tempe said quietly.

"What?"

"My Daddy says its proper English to put someone's name before your own when talking about them."

"Oh." Booth said, thoughtfully. "So does that mean you want to come play with us?"

Tempe shrugged and looked at Angie. "Sure." She said. Angie nodded.

"Cool!" Seeley said, grabbing Tempe's hand, instantly feeling tingles go up his arm. They both paused and looked into each other's eyes, hers crystal blue and his chocolate brown.

It took them only a second to snap out of it as Angie pulled on Tempe's hand and Tempe tugged on his as they raced towards a little boy with sandy brown hair and blue eyes, playing with toy cars in a corner. For the rest of the school day, Seeley stayed with Angie and Tempe and they didn't have to worry about Tim again.

**I hope you liked this! Please REVIEW!**


	3. Hero

**Wow...three updates in a single day! That's a new record for me! But this will probably never happen again...anyways this is based more truthfully on their ages since they're 5 years apart on the show. Enjoy!**

Hero

Five-year-old Angela Montenegro laughed as she raced after the kickball her best friend, Tempe Brennan, had just sent her way. They were playing together in Tempe's front yard on a warm spring day while their mothers relaxed inside for some girl talk.

Angela picked up the ball and threw it to Tempe, who then rolled it to Angela who kicked it back towards her. Tempe caught it easily and threw it back. This went on for a few moments until Tempe failed to catch the ball and it rolled off the sidewalk, into the streets. Tempe sighed.

"I'll get it!" she said, running towards the ball.

She leaned down to pick it up, but was startled by a sudden yell from Angela. "Tempe! Watch out!"

Then suddenly, she was grabbed from behind and seconds later was falling onto grass.

Ten-year-old Seeley Booth laughed as his friend, Jack Hodgins, showed off by walking on his hands in front of him, then falling to the ground with a loud thump.

"Show off!" Seeley laughed. Jack smiled.

"You know it!" he said, cheekily.

Seeley's six year old brother, Jared, giggled. "I think he's funny!" he said.

"You think _everything_ is funny, Jarhead!" Seeley said, playfully mussing his brother's hair.

Suddenly he heard a yell from across the street. Someone had yelled look out and he saw a little girl in the middle of the road about to get hit by a car.

Seeley quickly shed his backpack and sprang into action, running as fast as he could towards the little girl and lifting off the ground as he fell to the sidewalk with her, hearing the car screech to a stop behind him.

Seeley sat up and began inspecting the little girl for bruises. "Are you okay?" he asked her.

Tempe nodded, stubbornly wiping tears from her cheeks. "I'm _fine_." She said, standing up and brushing off. Angela ran over, worriedly.

"Tempe! Are you okay?" she asked.

Tempe nodded. "I'm fine, Angela. Just fine."

Angela gave her an incredulous look. "Fine? My Daddy's friend got hit by a car and he was in a wheelchair for _months_, Tempe! That could have happened to you!"

"But it _didn't_! So I'm fine." Tempe turned back to Seeley. "Thanks for your help."

Tempe turned back to Angela and began pulling her towards the house without waiting for a reply from Seeley, who acted as if he couldn't care less.

Seeley sighed and walked back to his friends, who were laughing at the little girl's attitude towards him. "I bet Batman never had to deal with ungrateful five-year-olds." He grumbled to himself.

**Please REVIEW!**


	4. Picking Teams

**New update! Please enjoy!**

Picking Teams

"I've got Jack!" Seeley Booth said, high-fiving Jack Hodgins as he walked over to join his team for the baseball game they had started in the park.

"I got Hacker, then." Tim Sullivan said, fist-bumping Andrew Hacker as he came to stand next to him.

"I got Wendell, then."

"And I guess I got the nerd." Tim grumbled as the only boy left to play was Zack Addy, who was two years younger and had no upper body strength to speak of.

"Hey! That means we're outnumbered! You have six players and we only have five!"

This much was true. On Sully's team were himself, Hacker, Zack, Sam Cullen, Michael Stires, and Clark Edison. On Booth's team were Wendell Bray, Jack, Lance Sweets and Vincent Nigel-Murray, a British exchange student. They did indeed have one less player than Sully's team and they needed at least six players on each team to cover all the major places on the field. Booth looked around at the park, finding nobody really suitable to play since everybody else that was there was under the age of eight, except for two girls his age playing catch with each other.

Well, one of them was catching, while the other one was either running from the ball or dropping it.

"Come on, Ange!" the shorter, more athletic of the two yelled at her friend. "It's just a ball. There's nothing to be afraid of!"

"That's easy for you to say," the friend, Ange, retorted, "you actually have athletic ability. Me, I'm more of a cheerleader." She smiled widely and placed her hands in the air like a cheerleader while her friend laughed, and threw the ball again.

Booth grinned at the two girls, noticing at one how pretty they both were, especially the shorter one. He couldn't see much of her, but he was able to catch a flash of her icy blue eyes when she had to turn around to get the ball that Ange had thrown too low and too much to the side. Underneath her baseball cap, Booth could see her chestnut-colored pulled back into a low ponytail.

And when she threw the ball back to Ange, it created a perfect arch, though Ange was still unable to catch it.

_She might be a good addition to our team._ Booth thought as he walked towards her.

"Hey," he said, approaching them. Both girls turned towards him. Ange smiled widely at him, looking him up and down, while her friend crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

"Hi!" Ange exclaimed. "I'm Angela Montenegro! And this is my friend, Temperance Brennan. What can we do for you, today?"

Booth smiled charmingly, which caused Angela to smile even wider, if that was possible. "Um, hey. I'm Seeley Booth. But please just call me Booth. And, uh, I sorta need another player for my team. I was coming over to ask if your friend, Temperance, was it, if she wanted to play."

Temperance crossed her arms. "Actually, the name is Brennan, and I'm sorta busy here, with my friend, so-"

"That's fine, Sweetie. I'm not such a good player anyway. And you rock at this! Besides, I can be your cheerleader!" Angela exclaimed.

Brennan chuckled and shook her head. "Come on, Ange..."

"No, Sweetie, _you_ come on! They're actually inviting you to be on their team. You've been trying to get on a team all Spring. Now let's go!" Angela grabbed Brennan's hand and pulled her along, following Booth back to where all the boys where waiting on the baseball diamond.

"Boys," Booth announced. "Welcome our new player, Brennan!"

The boys all groaned. "You brought us a _girl_?" Hodgins groaned.

"Why not? They've already got you playing! What's one more girl?" Brennan spat, crossing her arms.

"I'll take care of this." Booth said to her, before turning back to his team. "Guys, relax. Brennan is really good. She can catch anything that's thrown at her and she can throw a perfect arch. And I'll just assume that she can bat real good, too. So, just give a chance. She even brought us a cheerleader." Booth motioned towards Angela, who gave a small wave and smiled as a couple boys from both teams whistled at her. "So," Booth said, "what do you say?"

They boys all reluctantly gave in, allowing Brennan to join their team. Brennan smiled triumphantly as she took her place and Sully's team walked over to them. "So," he said, "you've got a _girl_ as you're new teammate?"

"Yeah," Booth said, "and I bet she'll be the reason we're gonna win."

Sully snorted. "I doubt it." Then he pulled a coin out of his pocket. "Heads or tails?"

"You pick, Brennan." Booth said, smiling at her.

Brennan thought a minute. "Tails." She said.

Sully flipped the coin. It came up heads. "We bat first." He said.

Brennan shrugged. "What position am I?"

"Outfield. I need you to be able to catch the balls that go out there. Their team has some pretty good batters, except for the smallest one, Zack. He always gets fouls or strikes."

Brennan nodded and took her place in outfield, while Booth went to third base and Hodgins took his place behind bat, as catcher. Pulling down his mask, he yelled, "Play ball!" and Sully took his spot at first bat.

Wendell pitched it perfectly, gaining a strike. The next one was also a strike. Booth grinned, but that grin faded when he heard the smack of the bat as it hit the baseball, and saw Sully make his way to first, second, while the ball was still in the air, going straight towards Brennan, who just stared at it, before lifting her glove and catching it, as if it were the most simple thing in the world. "Out!" Hodgins yelled, and Sully slumped back over to the dugout, grumbling the entire way.

"Nice job, Brennan!" Booth called over. She thanked him and laughed at Angela who was leaping up in down in her spot behind the dugout, cheering her on.

The rest of the game pretty much went like that. Nearly every point Sully's team earned was due to walks and two runs, but it was enough to be ahead by two points.

Now, it was ninth inning and Booth's team was on the field and Booth had called a time out to confer with Wendell, who had pulled his shoulder out two innings ago. "Brennan!" Booth called. Brennan looked over at them and Booth waved her over. "Can you pitch?" he asked once she got close enough. Brennan nodded. "Great. Switch places with Wendell. You can still catch, right?" Wendell nodded. "Okay, let's go!" Booth said, jogging back to third base as Wendell took his place in outfield and Brennan took hers at the pitching mound.

It was Clark's turn next, and as he stepped up to the plate, he had a look of pure determination and focus on his face as he lifted the bat over his shoulder, waiting for Brennan to throw the first pitch.

Brennan shook her arms out a bit, loosening up, before taking a deep breath and facing the batter. She locked eyes with Hodgins, who was squatting behind home plate, and she nodded. He nodded back and she wound up and threw the pitch, straight into his palm.

"Strike one!" Hodgins called. Clark sighed, before lifting the bat again.

Brennan wound up again and threw the pitch. This time Clark hit the ball, but it flew straight up and Hodgins caught it before he even reached first base.

Booth's team cheered and Brennan grinned as Zack came up to bat. She decided to make it a bit easier for him, so she waited until he had the bat, twice his size, over his shoulder and looked ready before she threw a noticeably softer pitch than she had for Clark. Zack swung the bat hard, enough so that he spun completely around and landed on his ass in the dirt. Both teams laughed and he blushed. Brennan smiled kindly at him and motioned towards the ball which was a mere two feet in front of him. Zack's eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet and began running towards first base. Meanwhile, Brennan strolled slowly towards the ball, picking it up and looking over at Zack, who had just passed second base, while all her teammates yelled at her to throw the ball. As soon as he passed Booth on third, she threw the ball to Hodgins, who saw what she was doing, and took his sweet time stepping on home plate and waited until Zack was a mere foot away before he even stepped toward it. Zack slide into home plate and a cloud of dust rose up all around him.

As the dust cleared, everybody's eyes went to Zack's foot, which was just touching the base and Hodgins's glove which held the ball just off the base.

Zack's team cheered and Zack's face lit up as he walked proudly to the dugout, getting pat on the back by his teammates. Brennan smiled at him and took her place back on the pitching mound as Sully took his place back at bat. He was cockily assured that he would get a hit, since Zack, 'the nerd', did.

He grinned cheekily at Brennan and winked at her, causing her to roll her eyes at him and send a glance over to Angela, who had placed her hands around her own neck, and stuck her tongue out. Brennan smirked and then pulled her cap down over her eyes, before winding up and throwing the pitch, hard and fast. It flew right past Sully, whose eyes widened.

"Strike one!" Hodgins yelled.

Brennan threw an identical pitch and this one flew straight past him as well. Sully groaned and threw the bat down in rage.

"Come on, Sully!" Hacker called from the dugout. "You can do it, man!"

His other teammates cheered him on and Sully picked up the bat again, readying himself for the next pitch. Brennan wound up and threw the last pitch, and Sully's bat hit in, flying it straight towards outfield...and right into Wendell's glove.

Booth's team cheered and Sully let out a string of curses as he slumped back to the dugout.

Brennan smiled and Angela cheered. Next, Hacker came up with sheer determination in his eyes. He took his place and got ready to bat.

Brennan smirked and threw the first pitch, which Hacker hit straight into Booth's glove.

"Thanks for making it easy, Hacker!" Booth called.

Hacker made an obscene gesture and walked back to the dugout to retrieve his glove as his team made their way onto the field.

Once they were in the dugout, Booth pulled Brennan and Hodgins aside. "What the Hell were you two doing out there? You let _Zack_ get a Home Run!"

"Did you see how his teammates were treating him?" Brennan said, with her hands on her hips. "I was just giving him a little support, and deflating their egos a little, in the process."

"Yeah, man. Zack may not be the most athletic, but they shouldn't have treated him that way! We just helped him a little. Look at him now."

Zack was in the outfield with Clark showing him how to catch the ball better. He was smiling and doing everything Clark told him, and Clark was patting him on the back when he did it right. Booth grinned at them and shook his head.

"Whatever," he said, "all I know is that we are now _three_ points behind them and now we gotta get at least four points in the next inning to win. Can you do it?"

Brennan and Hodgins nodded. "Good. Hodgins, you're up!"

Hodgins put his helmet on and took his place at bat, raising it above his head as Hacker stood on the pitching mound.

Hacker grinned when he saw who was up and winked to Sully, who was behind Home Plate.

Sully smiled and back up a couple inches as Hacker threw the first pitch; a curve ball.

Hodgins completely missed the pitch and Angela called out to him. "That's okay, Sweetie!" she called. "You got two more!"

Hodgins grinned at her, mesmerized by her beauty. He stared so long that when Hacker threw the next pitch it hit him in the arm.

"Ow! Shit, man!" Hodgins said, dropping the bat and gripping his throbbing shoulder.

Booth stepped out. "What the hell was that, Hacker! You're supposed to wait 'til he's ready!"

"Sorry, man!" Hacker called back. "I thought he was!" But Hacker was grinning.

Booth glared at him, then turned to Hodgins. "Take a walk man." He said, and Hodgins walked to first base.

Next was Wendell's turn. Since he still had a sore shoulder, he had to bunt the ball and only got to first base.

After him, was Booth, who hit the ball to outfield, gaining a single.

Vincent was up next, and he struck out. So did Lance.

After Lance, was Brennan. She was painfully aware of the two outs and the fact that they still needed four points to win.

Brennan took a deep breath and stepped up to bat, smiling at Angela's cat calls.

"Yeah, Sweetie! You go girl!"

Hacker smirked at her and threw the first pitch. Brennan stayed completely still, recognizing a ball. "Ball one!" Sully called.

Hacker sighed and threw the next one. Brennan swung too soon. "Strike one!"

The next one was a strike as well, making Brennan much tenser. She called for a time out and stepped away from the base, taking a couple deep breaths and practice swings. She stopped for a moment to close her eyes, and her hand came up to touch the dolphin necklace around her neck that her mom had given her. Nodding once, she stood back up to bat.

She lifted the bat above her head and when Hacker threw the final pitch, the bat made perfect contact with the ball, sending it straight over the back fence. Brennan didn't even watch it, she just ran the bases after her team got run after run, until she finally crossed home plate, while Sully's team all threw down their hats and gloves.

Once she passed home plate, Booth ran up to her and lifted her off the ground in his excitement, bringing her down and kissing her soundly on the lips.

When they pulled back, he instantly blushed and stepped back, running his hand nervously through his hair. "Uh, thanks!" he said, laughing nervously. "For, um, everything. And, uh, sorry about that."

Brennan just stood there and stared, wide-eyed at him, before she felt arms surround her. The first pair belonged to Angela who pulled her friend into a bone-crushing hug.

"Ohmygod! Ohmygod! You were sooo great out there, Sweetie! That was AMAZING!" She gushed.

Brennan chuckled. "Thanks, Ange." She said, as the other teammates came over to pat her on the back.

When everybody had congratulated her, she motioned to Angela that they should leave and Angela nodded, but not without slipping her number to Hodgins and winking at him.

"Hey!" a voice called out behind them as they began to walk away.

They both turned to see Booth jogging after them. He was smiling as he stepped towards Brennan. "Hey, we're having a rematch, by request, of course, next Saturday at noon. Do you think you could make it?"

Brennan smiled. "Sure. Why not?"

Booth grinned. "Great! I'll see you then."

"Okay, bye." Brennan replied, walking again with Angela, waving bye to Booth as he stood there, grinning and waving back.

Angela giggled and grabbed her arm. "Ooh! I think he _likes_ you!" she said.

Brennan rolled her eyes at her friend, but she couldn't deny the thumping in her chest, proof that maybe, she liked him too.

**Wow! That took me three days to write! Not in a row, of course, but still! Anyways, please REVIEW!**


	5. University

**Update! Booth and Brennan in college! Enjoy!**

University

"_So, Sweetie, how's North Western?" _Angela Montenegro asked on the other line on Temperance Brennan's cell as she made her way to her dorm room.

"It's fine, Ange. I'm learning more than I ever thought possible about Anthropology, and my Professor, Michael Stires is very...intriguing. And it's very nice to be appreciated by my peers instead of mocked. How's Paris?"

"_Okay, one, nobody really mocked you, they just... didn't _understand _you like I did. Two, what do you mean by intriguing? And three, Paris is amazing! I met this girl, Roxie. She's really...nice."_

Brennan smirked. "I bet. And I mean he's very intelligent and _very_ good-looking. I'm thinking of-"

"_Wait! Sweetie, don't even say it. Your _professor_ can't be your first."_

"Why not? He's more mature than most of the guys around here and he's at his sexual prime. I feel he'd make a very good teacher."

"_Of course he would, Sweetie. That's because he _is_ a teacher! And he would just be taking advantage of you. You need to find some guy closer to your own age that you can have an actual relationship with. This way your first time is special and not just 'satisfying biological urges'."_

Brennan rolled her eyes. "Isn't that what _you _do?"

"_No, Sweetie. I actually go on dates before I sleep with somebody. I try. Which is what you should do."_

"But, Ange, there's really _nobody_ worth the time and effort here." Brennan said.

"Really? Nobody?" a voice said from behind her and Brennan instinctively turned, elbowing the stranger in the gut.

When she saw who is was, she gasped. Seeley Booth, a classmate from her Forensics class, was on the floor, his backpack next to him and his books and papers scattered around him.

"Oh my God!" Brennan said, getting to her knees to check on him.

"_What? What happened?"_ Angela asked from across the line.

"Ange, I'm gonna have to call you back later." Brennan said, closing the phone and shoving it into her pocket as she checked to make sure Booth was still breathing. "Are you okay?" She asked as he opened his eyes.

As soon as their eyes, connected, the air was taken from his lungs. He knew she had beautiful eyes, but he had never looked at them this close. They were breathtakingly blue and sparkled like diamonds. "Uh, um..." he stammered.

"Oh, please tell me you don't have a concussion." Brennan said, placing her hand on her forehead.

Booth shook his head. "Nah, I'm good. I'm fine." He said, sitting up. "You got some pretty good reflexes there, Bones."

Brennan furrowed her brow. "_Bones_?"

"Oh, sorry. You don't know I call you that. I just-in Forensics, when it comes to identifying the victims they give us, I've noticed you're best when looking at bones. Ergo, the nickname."

"How did you notice that? Have you been watching me?"

"What? No! I just...notice things. Like how our Professor is involved with one of the students, Claire Mahoney."

"Our professor is female."

Booth grinned. "Yeah, she is."

"Hmm, she never struck me as a lesbian. How did you know that?"

"I told you. I just notice some things. I guess you could call it the gift of observation." Brennan rolled her eyes. "Anyways, I just wanted to see if I could borrow your notes from last class."

"If you're so observant, why do you need my notes?"

"Uh, because...because..." Booth really didn't have an excuse. He had truly just wanted to talk to her and thought borrowing her notes might be a good excuse. He just forgot _why_ he was supposed to have needed them. Brennan stood there, waiting for his reason for needing the notes. When he came up with nothing, she lifted her eyebrows.

"Well...?" She asked.

Booth sighed. "I don't really need your notes. Okay? I just...I wanted to know if you'd like to...get dinner with me, sometime?"

Brennan studied him for a moment. He had dark brown hair, he was about six foot tall, and he had the brownest eyes she'd ever see. And his smile was...charming and boyish. She smiled, nonchalantly. "What did you have in mind?" She asked, standing up.

Booth grinned and stood up with her, picking up his backpack and books. "Well, I was thinking we could go to this bar I know, The Founding Fathers. They have non-alcoholic beverages there, too, in case you don't drink. And food! They have food."

Brennan laughed. "I'm okay with a couple of drinks. That sounds good. How about Friday, after our evening Forensics class?"

Booth grinned. "That sounds doable. I'll see you then. Okay, Bones?"

Brennan smiled and nodded. "Alright. See you then, Booth. Oh, and by the way?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't call me Bones." Brennan said, over her shoulder as she walked away, with Booth grinning after her.

**Awwww! How cute! Um, not to be a bummer or anything, but I didn't get any reviews last chapter and I don't want to beg, but I **_**live**_** for these reviews. They make me feel good, and since this is Midterm week, I need that. So, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REVIEW!**


	6. Principal's Office

**Okay, so this is the second update tonight, I know, but I had an awesome idea! This is a little more AU than usual, but I think you'll enjoy it! XD**

Principal's Office

"Parker?" Booth said, walking down the hall of his son's elementary school. "What the hell happened? What's up with your eye?"

Parker was sitting on the bench with two other children, holding a bag of ice over his eye. He flinched when he saw his father, so concerned and annoyed at the same time.

"Uh, hey Dad!" He said, half-smiling. "What's up?"

Booth placed his hands on his hips. "What's _up_ is you're holding a bag of ice over your eye and you have a cut on your lip. Care to explain?"

"Well, uh, I sorta, um, got into a, um, fight, you see, and, um, I sorta also got a black eye." Parker's shoulders hunched as his father's gaze grew more intense.

"Parker, for your sake, I hope there's a good reason." Booth said, trying to keep his temper.

"There is! You see-"

"Sarah!" a voice called out from behind Booth as a woman came rushing over to the girl sitting to Parker's side. The woman kneeled down, checking her for injuries. "Are you alright, Sweetie?"

The girl sighed. "I'm fine, Tempe. Look, my worst injury is a scraped elbow and it's not even that bad."

The woman nodded. "I can see that. Now, what happened?"

"Well, I was playing catch with Maya when I saw Parker get knocked down and you always said I shouldn't let others hurt people like that, so I stepped in, telling Sam to get away, but he pushed me down, and he called me..."

"What, Sweetie? What did he call you?"

"He called me orphan, and he said nobody would ever want me." A tear fell down Sarah's cheek, which the woman wiped away.

"Don't believe anything somebody like that says. Okay?"

"But I _am_ an orphan, and-"

"Tell me," she interrupted, "how long have I had you?"

"Two years, but that could change-"

"No, it couldn't, Sarah. I've told you before, you're here to stay. The adoption will be final on Monday."

Sarah's eyes widened. "What?"

She smiled. "I was trying to make it a surprise for your birthday, but I think now is as good a time as any. I'm gonna be your mother, for real. So nobody will be able to take you away from me. Okay?"

Sarah nodded and threw her arms around her mother's neck.

They were interrupted only by a throat being cleared.

The woman looked up and saw the principal standing there. She stood up.

"Principal Saroyan, nice to see you again."

"Likewise, Dr. Brennan. Although I wish it were under more favorable conditions. I supposed your Foster Daughter told you everything?"

"Actually," Brennan said, putting her arm around Sarah, "she's my daughter, as of next Monday."

"Congratulations, Dr. Brennan. Now, I think we should talk about what happened today. You may have heard that Mr. Skinner here was bullying Mr. Booth, and Sarah stepped in, am I right?"

Brennan nodded. "That's right."

"Well, did you also hear that Sarah gave Mr. Skinner a bloody nose?"

Brennan looked from Sarah to Sam Skinner, who was holding a bloody tissue to his nose. A smile threatened to break over her face, but she suppressed it. "Really?" she said.

Principal Saroyan nodded. "Uh-huh. She claims it was self-defence."

"Is this true, Sarah?" Brennan asked.

Sarah shrugged. "Sorta. It was defence, but I was defending Parker, not myself."

"Why were defending Parker?" Brennan asked.

"Because Sam gave him a black eye and was about to punch him again, when I stepped in. And then he pushed me again, and punched Parker in the lip, and that's when Mrs. Cutler fond us and brought us to Principal Saroyan."

"Is this all true, Parker?" Booth asked, startling Brennan, who hadn't even seen him, too caught up with the safety and wellbeing of her daughter.

Parker nodded. "Yeah, that's true. I couldn't let her fight my battles so after he pushed her the first time, I punched him in the gut, then he gave me the black eye, then she gave him the bloody nose and pushed her again, then gave me the split lip. And, now, here we are." He chuckled nervously. "I'm sorry, Dad, but I tried to walk away before Sarah stepped in...not that it's _her_ fault, but, you know..." he trailed off.

Booth nodded. "Yeah, Buddy, I know. I'm proud of you. You did the right thing."

Principal Saroyan cleared her throat and Booth jumped. "But, um, violence is never the answer! Got it?" He said, attempting to sound stern.

Parker hid a grin and nodded his head.

Principal Saroyan shook her head and motioned to the kids to follow her. "Come on, kids, lets figure out your punishments, then you can go with your parents. Sam, where's your Grandmother?"

"She, uh, doesn't have a car, but she's sending my brother by bus. He should be here soon." Sam said, looking away.

The principal nodded, ushering the kids into her office.

When they were alone, Booth stuck out his hand to Brennan. "Hey. I'm Seeley. Seeley Booth. Parker's dad. You can just call me Booth."

Brennan took his hand, smiling. "Dr. Temperance Brennan. Just call me Brennan, though. I'm Sarah's mother."

"I heard." Booth said, smiling. "Congrats on the adoption."

"Thank you. Congrats on having such a noble son." Brennan complimented.

Booth smiled proudly. "Yeah, he's a great kid, ain't he? I just wish I saw more of him."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I just-Parker's mom and I aren't married, you see and she has him at least five days of the week. I only get him weekends and when she's away on business, so it's hard to teach him values, you know, but I do my best, and I think he's turned out great. Don't you? Sorry, I'm rambling. I do that when I'm nervous."

Brennan chuckled. "What are you nervous about?" she asked.

"Uh, well-" but he was cut off when Parker and Sarah walked out of the office, grim looks on their faces. "What's up, Buddy?"

"We're each suspended for the rest of the day and we have detention for two days, because of the school's no-violence policy." Parker replied.

"But you were defending each other!" Brennan protested.

"We know that and Principal Saroyan knows that, but her hands are tied. It's still not as bad as Sam's punishment, though." Sarah said.

"What's he getting?" Booth asked.

"Two weeks detention and he has to talk to the school therapist about his 'anger issues'." Parker said.

"That sucks." Booth said. "Poor kid."

Brennan nodded. "I agree, but he shouldn't be causing so much trouble."

Booth nodded in agreement. "Well, at least he'll be getting the help he needs."

Parker and Sarah agreed. "Yeah. And he needs _a lot_," Parker said. "Hey, Dad, can we grab something to eat? Recess comes before lunch, and...well, you know."

Booth nodded. "Sure, Bud, just grab your things." Parker picked up his backpack and stuffed his books into it, while Booth turned to Brennan and Sarah. "Would you ladies like to join us?"

"I don't know..." Brennan said, looking at Sarah. "Are _you_ hungry?"

Sarah nodded vigorously. "I'm starved! Let's go!" she said, hooking her arm around Brennan's and walking her towards Booth and Parker.

Brennan laughed and followed her daughter and the boys. "I guess we're going to lunch, then." She said, smiling at Booth, who smiled back, his eyes twinkling.

**I hope that was quite enjoyable. Please REVIEW!**


	7. Blind Date

**Update! Enjoy!**

Blind Date

"Sweetie, he's really a great guy!" Angela said, from Brennan's walk-in closet. "Hodgins says he's just had a rough time settling down."

"No offense to your boyfriend, Ange, but doesn't _every _guy think that his friends are great, even when they're not? I mean, remember when Zack tried to set me up with his friend, the 'really nice' lawyer and he turned out to be an asshole?"

"That was _one _time, Bren! And you shouldn't trust Zack. He's a horrible judge of character! But I've actually _met_ Seeley Booth and let me tell you, he is _perfect_. He looks hot, he's funny, and he's really sweet. He's a father, you know."

"Really?" Brennan asked, looking through her drawers for something to wear. "Was he married?"

Angela came out, her arms filled with dresses. "No," she said, dropping them onto the bed, "Try on the blue one first. It matches your eyes. According to Hodgins, when the girl got pregnant, Booth asked her to marry him and she denied him, telling him that the only reason he proposed in the first place was because she got pregnant. Said she couldn't _live_ like that." Angela sighed. "Well, her loss is your gain! Are you finished putting on the dress?"

Brennan stepped out of the bathroom, wearing a spaghetti strapped sundress that perfectly matched her light blue eyes and went down to her knees. "I don't know about this, Ange." she said. "Don't you think it's a little fancy for a first date?"

"Not at all! You look perfect, Sweetie! Now, come here and let me do your hair!" Brennan grinned and sat down at her vanity mirror, allowing her to whatever she pleased with her hair.

-BONES-

"I don't know about this, Hodgins." Seeley Booth said, making his way towards the Founding Fathers, where he was supposed to meet his mystery date. "What did you say her name was again?"

"_Temperance Brennan. And this is totally perfect, dude! She's smart, funny, sorta, and she's drop-dead gorgeous! Tell Angie I ever said that and I will poison you."_ Jack Hodgins said on the other line.

Booth chuckled. "With what? One of your lame science experiments? Good luck. Anyway, what does she do for a living?"

"_She's a physical Anthropologist at the Jeffersonian. You know, the same place me and Angie work?_"

"Oh, so that's where you are all day..." Booth said, jokingly. "She's not one of those 'all-superior' brainiacs is she? I already feel dumb enough when I hand out with you."

"_Really? You do? Sorry, man. I'll try to tone it down. But, no, she's not _always_ like that. Not on purpose, anyway. It just takes a little adjustment to get out of her Anthropology set of mind. She spends a lot of time back in the lab."_

"What _exactly _does a physical Anthropologist do again?" Booth asked, seeing the sign of the Founding Fathers and looking at his watch. He had a few minutes.

"_They identify the deceased bodies of people from the past based on their skeletons._"

"So, she's like a coroner?"

"_I guess so." _Hodgins agreed.

"Oh, hey, I gotta go. I'm here and she should be here, too."

"_Good luck, dude. Have a good time and get her home at a respectable hour, alright? You wouldn't want to piss off her folks."_

"I thought you said she didn't have parents." Booth said, confused.

Hodgins sighed._ "Never mind, dude. Just have fun." _And with that, he hung up, leaving Booth alone to find his date.

Walking into the bar, he searched the tables and the bar, his eyes falling on a young blonde woman sitting alone at the stool. She kept looking at her watch as if waiting for somebody. Booth grinned.

_That must be her._ He thought to himself, starting towards her, before another man cut him off and the young blonde greeted him with a kiss.

"Oh." Booth said aloud, turning back towards the exit to wait for his actual date.

About two minutes later, a tall brunette walked in and Booth's heart skipped a beat. She was beautiful. She had shoulder-length auburn hair that was pulled out of her face so that half of it was up in a sort of messy bun and she wore a knee length light blue dress with thin straps. But the most breath-taking part of her were her eyes. They were so crystal blue that they were almost white and they were accented by light black eyeliner around her eyes. And her skin was very fair, but not pasty. It looked perfect and contrasted well with the light pink lipstick on her lips.

Booth grinned and stepped towards her. "Temperance?" he asked.

Brennan turned her head towards him and smiled. Angela was right. The man in front of her was very handsome. He had spiky dark brown hair, and chocolate brown eyes that crinkled when he smiled. His smile was quite nice too. It was very...charming, and created two dimples in his cheeks when he smiled wide enough, like now. He was also wearing a dark blue dress shirt and a pair of tan slacks. Around his neck was a slightly loosed navy tie with a yellow star on the bottom.

"Seeley?" She asked. "Seeley Booth?"

Booth grinned and nodded. "Yeah. Wow, Angie and Hodgins weren't kidding."

Brennan furrowed her brows. "About what? What did they tell you?"

"That you were, ahem, gorgeous." Booth said, blushing slightly.

"Thank you." Brennan said, looking down. "Angela said the same about you, and I must say, she was correct."

She looked up and met his eyes, which seemed to sparkle, a fact that Brennan knew to meant he was attracted to her, which seemed to please her.

"Do you believe in fate?" Booth asked.

Brennan smirked. "Of course not. That's ludicrous."

Booth grinned and put out his arm, which she took, and lead her towards a table, where a waitress greeted them.

But neither of them were listening as she recited the specials for the night as neither of them could stop thinking about the other.

_Maybe this _wasn't _such a bad idea._ Booth thought, as he looked over into Brennan's smiling eyes.

**This is how I imagine they would feel about each other if it were an actual blind date. They would totally hit it off, don't you think? And, by the way, I've gotten confused reviews about the recent chapters. Guys, it's not one single storyline. It's a bunch of oneshots looking on how they would react to each other if they met differently and under different circumstances. Okay? Anyways, please REVIEW!**


	8. Arranged Marriage

**Update! So much more AU than I'm used to! Enjoy!**

Arranged Marriage

18-year-old Temperance Brennan gazed at herself in full length mirror in her dressing room.

She was dressed in a floor length white halter-top gown. The gown had a deep purple satin bow at the waist and embroidered purple daisies at the hem. Temperance smiled at the beauty of the dress and turned once, loving the way the dress came out when she spun around. Her hair was done up in a beautiful up-do, with a amethyst-encrusted diamond set atop it, since she adamantly refused to wear a veil. Her makeup was done up perfectly, compliments of her friend, Angela, who was her Maid of Honor.

Suddenly, her thoughts went to her mother and father, who had arranged the marriage when she was only three years old, to a boy who she didn't even know. Now, they were gone. Not dead, mind you, but disappeared when she was fifteen. But, of course, the marriage was still to go on as planned. A tear slid down Temperance's cheek as she thought of her parents, and the fact that neither of them would be there to give her away. Instead, she had her brother, Russ, who had been there to take care of her and had helped her plan the wedding, since her husband-to-be had enlisted in the army and had just recently returned.

Another tear fell at the thought that she didn't even know this boy that she was marrying. Or man, rather, since he was two years older than she and she'd only seen a picture of him when he was twelve years old. Any pictures that she received after that had been lost, or more likely thrown out, since after age 10, marrying a complete and total stranger was no longer appealing to her.

"Oh, Sweetie." A kind voice said from behind her. Temperance turned around and saw her best friend, looking beautiful in her bridesmaid's dress, a deep purple gown with a flower at one of the straps. "You look absolutely stunning. Your husband is going to love you."

At her words, Temperance broke down into tears and Angela immediately threw her arms around her. "Don't cry, Sweetie. Please. Just...tell me what's wrong."

"Ange, I don't think I can go through this. I don't think I can marry him. I don't even _know_ him."

"Sweetie, it's okay," Angela soothed, "Listen...I didn't know Jack before I married him, and now...he's all I can think about. I love him so much. He's like...my other half. I'm sure that's how your husband will seem to you once you get to know him."

Temperance pulled away and sniffled. "You promise?"

Angela nodded. "I promise, Sweetie. And if you don't fall in love with him, then you can always have the marriage annulled."

Temperance nodded. "I know. Thanks, Ange."

"You're welcome, Sweetie. I love you. Never forget that."

Temperance smiled. "I won't Ange. Thanks."

Angela smiled, then began helping Temperance clean up her face. "Thank God I used waterproof. Now, let's get you ready to walk down the aisle."

Temperance nodded and allowed her friend to help her get ready.

-BONES-

"What do you think, Seeley?" Tim Sullivan asked, tying his bowtie and showing off his tux.

"You look cocky as all Hell, Sully." Booth laughed.

"You know it." Sully said, grinning. He pulled a picture out of his pocket and grinned. In the picture was a young, smiling girl. She had crystal blue eyes and auburn hair. She was about fifteen in the picture and she had her arms around her father's neck as he held her bridal style and seemed to be twirling her around. Her eyes were happy and she was laughing, her long hair tied into a ponytail that trailed her movements. This was the last photograph he'd been sent of her, since she had stopped sending them after her parents disappeared. He wondered if she was still this beautiful. He certainly hoped so.

Seeley caught a glimpse of the picture and grinned. "Is that her?"

Sully nodded. "Yeah, that's my fiancé, Temperance. I never met her, but every year until she was fifteen, her parents sent pictures of her to me. She's hot, isn't she?"

Seeley nodded, not taking his eyes of the photo. "Yeah, she's gorgeous. I feel like I know her from somewhere..."

"Boys!" Hank Booth's booming voice interrupted them. "The wedding is supposed to begin soon. Are you almost ready?"

Seeley and Sully both nodded and, after checking themselves in the mirror once more, they followed Hank out to the aisle.

-BONES-

Temperance sighed as she took her place next to Russ at the door of the church. Angela and Jack were in front of her, as were Cam and Zack. Her fiancé had agreed to let her friends be his groomsmen as long as he could choose his own Best Man. Temperance readily agreed, feeling more comfortable to have her friends there, as well as her niece, Hayley, as her flower girl and her sister-in-law, Amy, who was very pregnant, followed behind her two-year-old daughter, as another bridesmaid.

Temperance took a deep breath, then turned to her brother. "I'm ready." She said.

"You sure, Tempe?" Russ asked, protectively.

Temperance nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Russ nodded and sent the signal to two men at either side of the doors, and they opened them.

At once, the Wedding March began to play and Hayley made her way down the aisle, throwing the petals all around her as Amy followed, making sure she didn't stop or go to any of their relatives.

Behind them were Angela and Jack, and behind them, Cam and Zack, close friends of Temperance. Then, Temperance made her way down the aisle, lead by Russ, who was smiling widely. Once they got halfway down the aisle, Temperance's eyes widened as she recognized the man standing at the end of the aisle.

It was the same man that she shared her first kiss with, when she was 14. The same man she had lost her virginity to when she was 16, just before he left for the army. But, he wasn't her fiancé. He looked far too different from the picture she had of him. She knew that he wasn't the man she was meant to marry from the start, that's why she'd never told her parents about him.

She couldn't let them down by telling them that she'd fallen in love with a man that wasn't her fiancé. Russ didn't even know about him. Angela did, but like Brennan, she thought he'd died in the war and therefore never asked about him again. But, now here he was. Alive and well, and looking more handsome than she'd ever seen him in his tux.

She was falling for him all over again.

_No!_ She scolded herself. _You're about to get married! You cannot be thinking about this right now!_

Temperance closed her eyes for a second and shook her head slightly, before turning to kiss Russ as he let her arm go. Russ smiled at her and whispered, "I love you." Before giving her over to her fiancé.

Temperance took a deep breath as she took a careful look at her fiancé. He was handsome. Very handsome. But he was nothing compared to the man standing next to him. Temperance looked to Seeley, who had a look of confusion on his face as he locked eyes with her, tipping his head to the side.

Temperance turned away from him and concentrated on her fiancé as the pastor marrying them read.

"Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to witness the joining of two lives. The life of Temperance Daisy Brennan and the life of Timothy "Sully" Sullivan. If anybody has any just cause why these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace.

Temperance found herself wanting to say something. Something to stop this whole wedding from happening. She wanted to tell Sully that she couldn't marry him. That she was in love with Seeley, but she knew that would be going against her parents' wishes and she couldn't do that to them. So she kept quiet, with a quick glance to Seeley, whose eyes widened at the sound of her name.

"Tempe?" he mouthed. Temperance nodded, a tear falling down her cheek.

Booth's eyebrows furrowed and he looked from Temperance to Sully, his best friend since they met at the beginning of their training in the Special Forces, back to Temperance, the woman he had loved since he was sixteen. He dropped his head, willing himself not to interrupt, for the sake of his friend's happiness.

Temperance kept her eyes trained on Sully as the pastor read through their vows, willing herself not to look at Seeley, or else she would crack.

"Do you, Timothy "Sully" Sullivan take Temperance Daisy Brennan, as your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love and to cherish, in sickness and in health, for richer or for poorer as long as you both shall live?"

Sully nodded. "I do." And Temperance's heart broke a little at the honesty in his voice.

"And Temperance Daisy Brennan, do you take Timothy "Sully" Sullivan to be your lawfully wedded husband? To have and to-"

"No." Temperance said suddenly. Everybody snapped their heads towards her, but she fought to keep her composure. "I'm sorry, Sully, but I can't. I-I barely know you. Actually, I _don't_ know you. I've never met you before today! I don't know what you're favourite color is, I don't know your likes or dislikes! And I'm not in love with you! I-I'm in love with," Booth shook his head slightly, "someone-someone _else_. I'm sorry. I just...can't." And with that she lifted the hem of her dress and ran down the aisle, tears spilling down her cheeks.

Angela looked at Sully, who didn't seem much affected by this, except for a broken pride, as his friend tried to console him, stiffly.

Angela sighed and ran after her best friend, wanting nothing more than just to talk to her and find out what was going on.

-BONES-

"So, he enlisted in the army and you haven't seen him until today?" Angela asked, handing her a hot cup of tea.

Temperance nodded, taking the cup in her hands and blowing on it. "I thought for sure, when he didn't contact me after two months of being home, he had died in the line of fire. But, then I saw him there, and all these old feelings came back to me, and..." Temperance's eyes filled with tears. "Ange, I don't know what to do. He's Sully's best friend now. He would never choose me over him."

"You don't know that, Sweetie. If he loves you like he used to, he will do the right thing. Just give him a-"

Angela was cut off by a loud knocking at the door.

Temperance furrowed her brows and looked at her watch. "Who could that be? It's almost eleven."

Angela got up and walked towards the door. "It's probably Russ coming to check up on you."

"But I phoned him and told him I was alright."

"He's a big brother, Sweetie. He's not gonna leave his sister alone when something like this happens."

Temperance sighed. "I'm fine. I don't see why he-"

She was cut off by Angela's gasp of surprise.

"What?" Temperance asked. "Who's at the door?"

Angela turned to her with wide eyes. "It's Seeley Booth!" she whispered.

Temperance's eyes grew and she immediately stood up and put down her tea, before making her way to the door, and looking through the peephole.

There stood Seeley Booth, hands in pockets, rocking on his heels, a nervous expression on his face. Temperance's heart started pounding wildly and she turned to Angela for help.

"What do I do?" she asked.

"Open the door!" Angela said back.

Temperance nodded and turned the doorknob, opening the door slowly, feeling her heart pound even harder as she looked into the eyes of Seeley Booth.

"Seeley?" she said, feigning surprise. "Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Hello to you too, Tempe." Seeley said with a sad smile. "It's nice to see you again."

Temperance smiled back, equally sad. "It's nice to see you, too, but, seriously, what are you doing here."

Seeley ran his hands through his hair. "I came to see you. I, um, I told Sully about us."

"You did? What did he say? Was he mad?" Temperance asked.

Seeley chuckled. "He was mad, at first. He gave me a swift punch to the gut, but he didn't get any major organs or intestines, so I'm okay. Then he laughed. Hard. He told me that I was always stealing his girls."

Temperance crossed her arms. "Is that so?"

Seeley shook his head, grinning. "Not like that. Every time Sully went after a woman, he used me as a wingman, but they always ended up falling for me. But I told them I had a girl back home. But, it was hard, I have to admit. Since I didn't have any pictures of you or anything, I started to forget what you looked like. The worst moment of my life was forgetting what you sounded like."

"Aww! That's so sweet!" Angela said, from her place behind the door.

Booth's eyes widened. "Is somebody else here, Tempe?"

Temperance opened the door a little wider, allowing Booth to see Angela, who smiled widely. "Hey there." She said.

"Seeley, this is Angela Montenegro. Angela, Seeley Booth." Temperance introduced.

Seeley and Angela shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Angela."

"Likewise." Angela said, smiling. She looked from Seeley to Temperance, noticing the way they kept glancing to each other and decided that it was time to go to bed. She feigned a yawn. "Sweetie, I think I'm gonna head to bed. I'm really tired."

Temperance turned to her. "Oh, okay, Ange. Do you want me to set up the guest room?"

Angela shook her head. "That's okay, Sweetie. I got it. I've called Jack to tell him where I'm staying. So, if he calls, tell him that I'm sleeping already."

Temperance nodded. "Okay, Angela. Good night."

Angela leaned over and hugged her. "Good night, Sweetie."

"Sweet dreams, Ange." Temperance replied.

"Goodnight, _Seeley_." Angela sing-songed as she walked towards the guest room.

Seeley waved at her, grinning. "She is _something_. Isn't she?" He said.

Temperance smiled. "Yeah, she is." She turned back to Seeley. "Would you like to come in?"

Seeley grinned. "More than anything." He walked into the living room and took a seat on the couch, and Temperance joined him.

They sat in a comfortable silence for a little while, before Temperance spoke. "Why didn't you call me when you got back?"

Seeley sighed. "I only just got back a couple of weeks ago, and Sully asked me to be his Best Man, so I put it off, at least until after the wedding. I was going to call you as soon as it was over tonight. I still have your number. See?" He pulled out a card she had given him two years ago with her phone number on it and she smiled.

"My number changed. Twice." She replied.

Seeley blushed. "Oh, well, I sort of suspected that, but I still figured I could track you down. I have friends at the FBI that could help, and I was willing to do anything to find you."

Temperance looked away. "Well, you found me."

Seeley nodded. "Yeah, I did." They were silent a moment. "Look, Tempe, I would really love for us to start over."

Temperance shook her head. "I don't know, Seeley. I just left your best friend at the aisle. Isn't there a brothers against sluts thing between guys?"

"You mean, 'Bros before hoes'? Yeah, but he doesn't care that much. Actually, he gave me his blessing."

"I'm still not so sure, Seeley. I haven't seen you in two years-"

"But, you admitted that you loved me, back at the wedding. And I still love you. Deeply. Please? Just give us another chance. Please?"

Temperance shook her head. "I don't think I can, Seeley. I barely know anything about you."

"What are you talking about? We dated for nearly two years!"

"Yes, and then you went to war for two years! And a _lot_ can changed in two years."

Booth took a deep breath. Sometimes this woman was just so _infuriating._ "Then, how about...we start over? I'll take you on a first date. I'll come to your door and ask your brother for permission and everything. Everything will be brand new. It'll be like the first time we met."

"I don't know..." Temperance said, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Please, Tempe. It'll be _our_ second chance. Please?" Seeley looked at her with pleading eyes and she couldn't resist any longer.

"Fine." She said, "One more chance."

"Great!" Seeley said, standing up, and grabbing her hand.

"Wait! Where are you taking me?" Temperance asked.

Seeley grinned. "You'll see!" Seeley dragged her by the hand towards the elevator, before turning to her. "Okay, stand here."

Temperance gave him a confused look but didn't ask any questions as he stepped onto the elevator and disappeared.

Less than a minute later he stepped out of the elevator and smiled at her. "Oh, hey there! Didn't I see you at my friend's wedding?"

Temperance smiled, catching on. "Yes, I think so." She stuck her hand out. "I'm Temperance Brennan. But I either go by Tempe or Brennan."

Seeley smiled and reached out to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you, Tempe. I'm Seeley Booth. I go mostly by Booth, though."

Temperance quirked an eyebrow at his chosen name. "Nice to meet you as well, Booth. Do you live around here?"

Booth smiled. "Actually, I just leased an apartment upstairs. I guess I got out on the wrong floor."

Temperance grinned. "You did?" Booth nodded. "Uh, I mean. Really? So I guess I'll see you around, then. Huh?"

Booth nodded. "Yeah, I guess you will." They were silent for a moment, smiling at her.

"Uh, I know this might seem sudden," Temperance scoffed, "_but_ would you like to go out to dinner sometime?"

Temperance pretended to think about it for a moment. "I suppose..." she said, grinning slightly at his look. "Okay, I'll go to dinner with you. When?"

Booth smiled. "Friday at seven okay?"

Temperance nodded. "Sounds good."

Booth nodded. "Great. May I walk you to your room?"

Temperance smiled. "Yes, you may." Booth grinned and motioned for her to go first.

When they got back to her room, Temperance opened the door and turned to face him. "Well, good night, Seeley Booth." She said, smiling up at him.

Booth grinned and took her hand to his mouth. "Good night, Temperance Brennan." He said, before turning and walking back to the elevator to go back to his own apartment.

Temperance smiled after him, sighing as she shut the door.

This day had not turned out anything like she planned, but she was happy about it.

**Sorry that is incredibly long but I didn't know how to play this out. I hope y'all like it anyways. Please REVIEW!**


	9. Cheerleader

**Okay, so I know I haven't updated in awhile and I'm sooo sorry! But I'm back! So, enjoy!**

Cheerleader

"Ange, I'm not so sure about this..." Temperance Brennan said as her best friend pulled her into the gymnasium at their Chicago high school.

"Aw, come on, Bren! You're gonna do great! Besides, you heard what Mr. Stires said! You need some extracurricular activities! And _no_, Chess Club and Science Club do _not_ count! You need to do something physical!" Angela argued back.

"But, I'm already enrolled in defense classes and I have a Black belt in Karate and Tai Kwon Do! Isn't that enough?" Brennan asked, still resisting.

"But none of those things has anything to do with any sort of school credit! And, besides, if you become a cheerleader, you can forgo all gym classes for the rest of the year." That seemed to get Brennan's attention, considering she absolutely _despised_ gym class. She quit fighting Angela, with a sigh, and allowed her to pull her to the table where all the girls who were trying out were filling out forms and receiving numbers from the judges; the Head cheerleader, the Coach of the squad, and the Vice Principal, to make sure that the judging was completely fair.

As they stood in line, she noticed a few of the girls smirking at her and whispering in each other's ears as she walked to the table, but she ignored them.

She knew what most people said about her. That she was weird. That she was a death freak, _just_ because she liked to dissect animals. It's not like she would ever find any _living_ animals to cut up. She always made sure they were long dead before chopping them up. She walked right past them, keeping her head up as she took a form from the Coach, and began filling it out.

Once she was done with it, she handed it to the Head Cheerleader, Tessa, who gave her a pointedly nasty look as she pinned it to her tank top, before following Angela to the bleachers where they sat down next to Angela's boyfriend, and personal cheerleader, Jack Hodgins.

"Hey, baby," he said, kissing her cheek, "hey, Bren. You guys ready?"

Angela smiled widely. "Definitely!" she said at the same time Brennan shook her head. "I'm not sure..." she said, looking down and wrapping her arms around her waist.

"Come on!" Jack said, placing a hand on her shoulder. "You're going to do great!"

"You can't possibly know that." Brennan argued. Jack was about to argue back when Angela hushed him, looking pointedly towards the front of the room. Jack and Brennan turned to look where the Coach was standing, holding a clipboard, Brennan assumed held all the names of the girls trying out.

"Okay," the Coach said, "when I call each of your names, you will come up and do a sequence of gymnastics of my choice. Some will be difficult, and others...will not. First up...Hannah Burley!"

A young blonde girl stepped up and walked over to the Coach, before receiving her orders and performing the sequence, getting most of the moves right, but landing a little uneasily on the last one.

The judges apparently didn't seem to notice because she got a near perfect score. Hannah smiled at them and thanked them before walking back to her spot in the bleachers, high-fiving Angela on the way back to her seat.

"You know her?" Brennan asked, once Hannah was back in her seat.

Angela nodded. "Yeah, Hannah's in our Algebra II class _and_ our Forensics 101."

"Really?" Brennan asked, uninterestedly, "I hadn't noticed."

"Well, she is, and she's pretty cool. We should ask her to hang out sometime."

Brennan frowned at this suggestion. Since her parents left her a year ago, closely followed by her brother, Russ, she'd been on her own, except for Angela, her best friend, whose rock star dad had taken her in as a Foster Daughter. She didn't like the thought of sharing Angela with anybody, especially not a girl who was about to become one of the stuck up cheerleaders that she despised, and vice versa.

Brennan was so caught up in her near-brooding thoughts that she almost didn't hear the Coach calling her name.

"Temperance Brennan?" Coach Andrews called for the fourth time. "Are you still here, Tempe?"

Brennan stood up, waving her hand to get the Coach's attention. "I'm still here, Mrs. Andrews!" she called, running down the steps, eager to get this whole try out over with.

Once she got to the floor, she stood to attention, waiting for the Coach to tell her the order of the moves she wanted her to do.

"Okay, Tempe, so first I want you to-"

"Hey, Morticia!" A voice called from behind her. "Knock 'em dead!"

Brennan turned around as the entire gymnasium exploded into laughter, except for Angela, Jack, and Hannah.

Brennan looked in the direction of where the voice had come from and glared at Tim Sullivan, who was doubling over in laughter and holding his arm as if in pain, pain which didn't stop his thunderous laughter, of course. Next to him was Seeley Booth, captain of the Basketball team, who was glowering at him, while still struggling to hide his own amused smile.

"Timothy Sullivan!" Coach Andrews called to him. "If I hear so much as another _peep_ outta you, you'll be outta here before you can even say 'cheerleader'. You hear me?"

Sully rolled his eyes. "Whatever." he mumbled, still rubbing his arm.

"What did you say, boy?" Coach Andrews asked, in a low, serious, not-to-be-messed-with tone.

"I said, 'Yes, Ma-am'." Sully sighed, elbowing Booth's shoulder. Booth hit him back, mouthing something to him that Brennan couldn't quite catch, before turning back to look down at her, shooting her a charming smile.

Brennan rolled her eyes and turned back to Coach Andrews, who was still yelling at a few boys to sit down and be quiet.

"Okay, Tempe, so to move on, I want you to..." the Coach told her all the moves she wanted her to do, even demonstrating a few moves that she wasn't familiar with.

Brennan nodded and took her place in the middle of the gym, taking a deep breath and waiting until the music had begun playing before beginning her routine.

Everybody in the gymnasium's eyes opened wide as they looked on at Temperance Brennan, the weird girl, _Morticia_ herself, perfecting every single move that Coach Andrews had given her, even the ones that she wasn't familiar with. When she was finished, she kneeled on the floor in the landing that she stuck perfectly on the mat closest to the judging table, attempting to even out her breathing, looking to the judges for scoring.

Rebecca looked absolutely stunned, while Coach Andrews and Principal Julian looked amazed that she'd been able to perfect one of the most difficult routines they had. Both of them gave her perfect scores, which caused Rebecca to come out of her daze.

"What? There is _no_ _way_ that _freak_ is gonna be on _my_ squad!" She exclaimed, loud enough for the entire gymnasium to hear. Brennan tried ignoring her, but couldn't help the lump forming in her throat at Rebecca's hurtful words. She'd known how freaky many people in the school thought she was for as long as she could remember, but nobody ever vocalized it so _loudly_.

Coach Andrews turned to Rebecca, glaring. "Well, then, Rebecca, I guess you're right." She turned to Brennan, who looked on the verge of tears. "You can have her spot." she said, nodding to Rebecca, who looked livid.

"What?" Both Rebecca and Brennan said at the same time.

Andrews turned to Rebecca. "You heard me. If you can't be at least _civil_ towards _all_ the girls on this squad, then you don't belong here. So, either you apologize to Tempe or you hand in your uniform and leave _right now_. And Tempe will be the new captain."

Rebecca looked from the Coach to her teammates, who seemed to be appalled at their captain's behavior and were all glaring at her and shaking their heads in disapproval.

She shot one more glare at Brennan, before stalking out of the gymnasium. "Wow! What a bitch!" someone yelled in the stands.

"Mr. Sullivan!" Coach Andrews yelled.

"Hey, I just said what _everybody's _thinking!" Sully called back.

Coach Andrews shook her head, trying to hide a smile. "Well, Tempe," she said, smiling at Brennan, "Looks like you're our new captain. You wanna finish judging for us?"

Brennan dazedly nodded her head and took the seat next to Principal Julian, looking back at the audience, where Angela was giving her a thumbs up and Jack was clapping silently. Brennan smiled at them and waved, before turning forward to watch the next girl trying out.

An hour later, when all the girls were finished trying out, Brennan sat down with all the girls on the cheer leading team, asking for their advice on who to choose from the two girls that got the lowest qualifying score. Most of the girls told her it was her choice, since she was now the captain, but Brennan didn't want to make the wrong choice. In the end, though, she chose Daisy Wick, a particularly perky girl whom Brennan felt would make the perfect cheerleader.

Happy with her choice, Brennan walked over to the eager girl to give her the good news. Brennan was extremely surprised, and somewhat disturbed, when the girl squealed and pulled her into a bone-crushing hug, squealing loudly, before running over to her boyfriend on the other side of the gym, jumping into his arms, practically knocking him over.

"Well, she seems happy." Angela said, coming up next to her.

Brennan smirked. "It would seem so." she replied, turning to her best friend. "So how do _you_ feel about becoming a cheerleader?"

"Amazing! Look! They gave me my own set of pom-poms!" Angela said, waving the blue and white pom-poms in Brennan's face, causing her to giggle. "Thank you so much for your generous score, Sweetie!" Angela said, throwing her arms around her best friend's neck.

"No problem, Ange." Brennan chuckled, hugging back, just as fiercely. "What are sisters for?"

Angela squeezed her harder at this comment, then moved back a little with a large grin. "Uh...Bren, I think somebody would like to talk to you!" she practically squealed, turning Brennan around to face...Seeley Booth?

"Hey," Booth said, sheepishly, "I'm sorry about Sully's behavior before, and about Becca..._that_ relationship is so over." he said, partly to himself. "I had no idea she could be that venomous. Well, actually, I did. She can be a real bitch sometimes, as you clearly saw." he was rambling, becoming more nervous with every glance at her, as she stood stunned, staring at him with large, blue, dazed eyes. "Um, anyways, I was wondering if maybe you'd want to, uh, hang out sometime. And before you say anything, I'm not asking you just because you're the captain of the cheer leading team now, and I'm definitely not looking to push you into anything you're not ready for. I truly just want to hang out cause I think you're kinda cool and I like how you're comfortable being yourself, and-"

"Okay." Brennan shrugged.

"Come on, just hear me out. I- did you say okay?" Booth asked, surprised.

Brennan shrugged again. "Why not? I can clearly see that your intentions are pure by the way you seem to be rambling and I know you aren't being nice to me because I'm a cheerleader, because of the way you punched your best friend when he was making fun of me before I even tried out, so it couldn't hurt to just hang out. Logically, since I'll be cheering for you, it only makes sense that we get to know one another."

A wide, charming grin spread across Booth's face at her answer. "Yeah!" he said, a little too enthusiastically. "Um, ahem, I mean cool. So, where are you guys headed?"

"We're going to the diner to celebrate!" Angela answered from her spot behind Brennan, smiling widely.

"Sounds cool. Mind if I join you?" Booth asked, hopefully.

Brennan smiled politely. "Not at all. That is, if you don't mind walking."

Booth smiled and pulled a set of keys out of his pocket. "No need. My Pops lent me the car tonight. It's got enough seats to fit us all."

"Awesome!" Jack exclaimed, walking up to stand next to his girlfriend. "I call shotgun!" Angela elbowed him in the ribcage, not so discreetly and he held back a pained groan. "Never mind." he wheezed out.

Booth's eyebrows rose at this weird boy, but he made no comment, instead reaching down to take his and Brennan's backpacks, placing them on either of his shoulders, earning a look from Brennan. "What?" he asked, wondering what he'd done wrong already.

"I can carry my own back, pack, you know." Brennan said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I know," Booth said, "But then, you'd be struggling with your new uniform and the books and stuff. I'm just trying to help out a little." He shot her another charming smile, which Brennan reluctantly accepted.

"Fine." she sighed. "But this is the first and _last_ time you do that for me, and it's only because I have other things to carry."

Booth nodded, like, '_Of course!_' before gaining a smirk from Brennan as she began to walk towards the exit, her friends trailing behind her.

Angela looked at Jack and handed him _her_ backpack, before jogging a little to catch up with Brennan, putting her arm around her waist, as Brennan did the same, Jack and Booth trailing behind them with their bags, while Jack shot Booth a look that said, 'G_ee, thanks!_' and Booth just grinned, willing to follow Brennan anywhere she lead, even after just meeting her.

**I thought this was sort of how things SHOULD have gone when they were teenagers, don't you? Please REVIEW!**


	10. Baseball Game

**UPDATE! Enjoy!**

Chapter Ten: Baseball Game

"Come on, Seel!" Joseph Booth called back to his young son, who was juggling a jumbo soda and a tray of nachos with a baseball glove on his hand.

"Coming, Pop!" Seeley responded, hurrying to catch up with his father, without dropping the food in his hands.

Joseph Booth smiled at his son, who he hadn't spent much time with lately, what with all the drinking. Joseph shook his head, trying to forget about all that.

He knew he shouldn't drink so much and he was trying so hard to stop, but the pain of his wife's recent passing made it so hard. Especially since the alcohol seemed to ease the pain. But it made him angry, as well. Angry at himself for being so weak, angry at his boys for looking so damn much like her, angry at God for taking her away from him. Just...angry.

But he'd been making a real effort to stop. He hadn't had any alcohol in over a week and today he was with his oldest boy, Seeley, at the Veteran Stadium, watching the game. His younger son, Jared, had been too young to accompany them and instead was at him with Joseph's father, Hank.

When Joseph and Seeley reached their seats, there was already a man seated there with a young boy seated next to him and a little girl, about Seeley's age, was seated on his lap, instead of her own seat on his other side.

Joseph nodded politely to the man before taking his seat, allowing Seeley to sit in the seat next to where the little girl should have been sitting.

Seeley smiled at the little girl, who smiled back at him, shyly.

"Hi," he said, smiling the Booth patented charm smile, "My name is Seeley. Seeley Booth."

The little girl blushed, but still smiled back. "I'm Temperance Brennan. But everybody calls me Tempe."

Seeley's smile widened. "That's a pretty name."

The girl's blush deepened. "Thank you."

Seeley felt a nudge in his ribs and turned to look at his father, who was smiling slyly at him. "Well, look at you, my little Casanova over here. Aren't you gonna introduce your old man?"

Seeley blushed and turned back to Tempe. "Uh...this is my Pop..."

"Joseph Booth." Joseph said, holding out his hand for Tempe to shake. "Nice to meet you." The little girl was hesitant to take his hand. "Relax, I won't bite."

The man, whose lap she was sitting in, chuckled. "Tempe's quite shy. Hello. I'm Matthew Brennan. Nice to meet you." The men shook hands and Matthew put his arm around the young boy's shoulders. "This is my son, Russ." Russ nodded in greeting and Joseph said hello.

"You guys from around here?" Joseph asked.

Matthew shook his head. "Nah, we're here on Spring Break. My wife is back at the Hotel but a friend of mine got us these tickets and I just couldn't refuse. My wife's not one for sports, though."

Joseph smiled politely. "Yeah, neither's mine. She would do anything to get out of seeing any kind of sporting event, even one of her own son's games. But that never stopped her from showing up after and showering him with kisses, did it, Seel?" Joseph ruffled Seeley's hair, while the young boy blushed scarlet.

"Po-op!" he whined. Joseph back handed him softly, but Seeley flinched as if he was anticipating a punch from a boxer. Matthew seemed to notice this but restrained himself from commenting.

"So, Seeley, how old are you?" he asked, instead.

"I'm nine and a half, sir." Seeley replied, politely, ever the gentleman that his mother raised.

"You're pretty big for a nine-year old. That's good. Means you'll make a strong man someday, like your father here." Seeley nodded and thanked Matthew, not commenting on how little he wanted to be like his father when he got older. He had no desire to lose his temper on his wife or kids and make them as terrified as he was of Joseph. So he just nodded.

"How old are your kids?" Joseph asked.

"Russ is twelve and Tempe will be eight soon. My little girl is growing up real fast." Matthew replied, wrapping his arms around his little girl.

"Daddy!" Tempe said, flushing in embarrassment.

"What?" Matthew asked, innocently. "No father _ever _wants his little girl to grow up."

"It doesn't matter. Growing up is inevitable. Nobody can stop it. No matter how much they want to." Tempe explained with a blank expression.

Matthew shook his head. "You know, Tempe, sometimes I think you're a little too smart for your own good."

Tempe cocked her head to the side, slightly. "I don't know what that means."

Matthew smiled slightly, shaking his head again. "Of course you don't." He poked her in the ribs and she let out a strangled squeak and he laughed, kissing her cheek, before setting her back in her seat as the game was about to begin.

As soon as Tempe was seated next to him, Seeley leaned over. "So," he said, conversationally, "who're you rooting for?"

"What?" Tempe asked, surprised that this older boy was willingly talking to her. At her school back in Chicago, she was a fairly quiet child, and only really spoke to the teacher or her best friend Angela, who she'd known since she was very little. But never had anybody, besides Angela, initiated a conversation between her and themselves.

"Are you rooting for the Phillies? I am. The Phillies are awesome!" Seeley's smile was wide and contagious, making Tempe smile in return.

"I guess so." she responded. "I don't really watch baseball all that much, though. I wouldn't know who was winning."

Seeley's eyes widened. "Really? You don't know the rules?" Tempe shook her head. "Well, I'll teach you. Just ask me anything you wanna know and I'll tell you. I've been on a Little League team for three years. We won the Championship lat year and came real close two years ago. We're just starting our season now but I'll bet we win the Championship again."

"There's no possible way of knowing that for sure, though. Why would you bet on it?" Temper asked, blankly.

Booth furrowed his eyebrows, staring deeply into her crystal blue eyes, trying to tell if she was joking or not. But her look remained serious and he shook his head. "You take things a little too literally, you know that?"

Tempe blushed furiously. "Yes, I'm aware of that. Thank you." She spat.

"Hey," Seeley said, holding up his hands in surrender. "Relax, I didn't mean that as a bad thing. I'm just saying..." Tempe visibly relaxed, as did he. "Okay, so first of all, what do you wanna know?"

"Well, first of all, what direction do they run when they get a hit?"

Seeley's eyes widened at her question. Was she serious? One look into her eyes told him that she was. "Oh, boy," Seeley said, "this is gonna be a _long_ game."

**PLEASE REVIEW! **

**PS: Who is excited for the next episode of bones where Bones will be acting like a little kid? I know I am! XD**


	11. Enemies

**Update! If y'all like this one, it might just turn into something. Enjoy!**

**(The names are slightly different for the purpose of this story)**

Enemies

"Come on, Angi!" the young girl called to her friend as she ran behind her, much more slowly than the girl was running.

"Hold up, Temper!" Angi called, trying to pick up the pace to match her friend's, but she knew it was useless. Temper Bren was the fastest runner in their village. She could outrun almost anybody if she set her mind to it.

Angi Monte felt as if her lungs were going to explode if she ran much longer. But, to her relief, they came to their destination, a clearing in the middle of the woods, with a single bush in the middle, filled with delicious berries that were theirs for the taking.

Temper and Angi smiled at each other, breathing heavily, before they pounced on the bush, shoving as many berries as possible into their baskets.

Their village had employed the two of them to gather food for the entire village and Temper estimated that the abundance this bush held would be more than enough to feed their tiny village for the rest of the month.

They were just about finished gathering the entirety of the bush when a voice called gruffly from behind them.

"Halt what you're doing, this instant!" The girls froze. "Show your faces!"

The girls slowly turned towards the voice. A young man, not much older than them, actually, was standing there, opposite the way they came, a spear in his hands, held towards them in a threatening manner. His eyes were furrowed in a seemingly permanent scowl, his skin was tanned gold, his eyes were brown as cocoa beans, as was his hair. Temper estimated him to be about fourteen years old. She herself was only eleven. Angi was twelve. Around his neck was a necklace with a charm fashioned as and 'X'.

Temper visibly relaxed. "He's a Cross."

Angi looked at her. "A Cross?"

"Stop moving! I mean it!" The young man yelled.

Temper put her hands up. "Relax yourself." She pulled the bottom of her shirt up, revealing a man-made scar in the shape of an 'O'. "We're Naughts." She encouraged Angi to do the same with her shirt. Angi complied, revealing an identical scar. "I'm Temper, and this is Angi. We are from the Naught village. We meant no harm here, so you can put down your weapon, please."

The young man lowered his weapon, but his scowl remained on his face. "What are you doing on our side of the forest?"

"Actually, this would be the halfway point, as in _both_ of our territories, and we're only here for food. We've suffered a horrible famine and we've come so far just to gather food for our village." Temper explained, putting on her best innocent eyes that always had every man, young or old, at her feet. At eleven years old, she already knew how to manipulate men to do her bidding, though she only ever used her powers for good.

The young man took one look into those bright pale blue eyes and immediately his face softened, letting his guard down. "My name is Seel." He said, showing courtesy to the girls by bowing. The girls each bowed in return. "You girls really shouldn't be here. It isn't very safe around our parts, especially for Naughts."

"What do you mean?" Angie asked, becoming distressed.

"There is a group in my village, a small group, but a very dangerous one, that despises the Naughts. If either you were to be found here, they would most definitely dispose of you. Best to leave now."

"How do you know this?" Temper asked, appalled that there would be such a group, although there was a similar one in her village, opposed to Crosses.

Seel looked down, as if ashamed. "Because, my father...is their leader."

The girls both gasped and stepped back.

"Look! I'm not proud of it! In fact, I despise him for it. But there's not much I can do about it. At least, not until I'm old enough to go out on my own." he defended.

"Well, when you finally are free of that _monster_, no offense," she said, at his look of outrage, "then you are more than welcome in our village."

"There are none opposed to my kind in your village?" Seel asked, taken by surprise.

"There are, but none that would use violence as a way to act out their disdain. They would mostly ignore you or give you cold stares. But nothing that would harm you in any way." Temper explained.

"That's what you think." Seel muttered.

"I don't know what that means." Temper said with a blank stare.

Seel shook his head. "Never mind. I'll think about it. But, until then, you two should stay away from here, for your own protection. Got it?"

Temper and Angi nodded. "Good. Now, finish gathering your food. I'll stand guard. You must start running the instant I tell you to."

The girls nodded once again before going back to their picking. They had just finished securing their baskets when Seel hissed at them.

"Go!" he whispered, urgently.

The girls took off, Temper many yards ahead of her friend, who was trying her best to keep up once again.

Seel watched after them, smiling to himself at the speed of the younger auburn-haired girl with the bright blue eyes.

"Whoa," he thought to himself, "she's fast."

He was startled by the sudden sound of a voice. He turned towards it to see his friend, Jak, coming towards him.

"Hey, Seel. Watcha doing all the way out here?" Jak asked.

"Uh, I just came to get some...berries! Yeah! Just a little hungry so I thought I'd have a snack. Damn birds must've ate them all again, though." Seel said, scowling at the bush.

"Rats with wings is what they are." Jak said, shaking his head. "Your father's gonna be pissed, though. We were supposed to ration off those berries for the rest of the week."

Seeley rolled his eyes. "We'll live. Besides, now we got plenty of plump birds to eat, don't we?"

The two young men laughed, making their back towards their village, Jak's mind on food, while Seel's mind was on the set of beautiful blue eyes he'd encountered and, thankfully, saved.

**How do you like it? I'll make this into a story if enough people review. So, PLEASE REVIEWWWW!**


	12. Thief

**Update!**

Thief

"Come on, Seeley!" Jared practically whined at his older brother.

Seeley laughed. "What's the rush, Jared? The Fruit stand isn't going anywhere."

The two young men were on their way to the fruit stand, where Jared had promised to meet a young girl he met in the market the day before. The girl had promised to bring a friend for Seeley and Seeley had reluctantly agreed to accompany his brother and the women, not really feeling in the mood to see anybody, since his wife, Rebecca, had left, nearly five months ago.

They were nearly half-way through the small village when a young woman, about Jared's age, ran by with a purse in her arms, nearly knocking over Seeley in the process.

She turned back for an instance. "Sorry!" she spout over her shoulder.

Seeley's heart seemed to stop at that moment. Though most of the girl's face was covered by a shawl, her eyes were still visible through the slit, as was part of her hair. Her eyes were like nothing he'd ever seen before; Blue as the Summer sky and brilliant as lightning. And from what he could see from her hair was amazing, as well. Light reddish-brown and wavy.

Seeley was about to follow her when he heard a man's voice from behind him.

It was a guard, leaning over and gasping for breath. "Excuse me...Have you...seen...a girl...with a large purse...come by here?" The guard asked in between breaths.

"Actually-" Seeley cut off Jared with a swift elbow to the gut.

"Haven't seen her." he said quickly. "Sorry."

The guard nodded, before righting himself and walking in the direction he came. When the guard was gone, Jared turned on Seeley.

"What the Hell was that for?" he hissed. "You want that _thief_ to get away? I though you were supposed to be the just one!"

Seeley shrugged. "Everybody deserves a second chance." He said nonchalantly before continuing on the way to the fruit cart, Jared hurrying after him, totally confused.

B&B

Angela Montenegro sat against the wall of one of the many stone buildings, looking at her broken wristwatch every few moments.

"Come on, Bren." she whispered. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here, Ange." A voice said above her. Angela gasped in surprise and looked up, jumping to her feet and throwing her arms around a young woman in a faded blue shawl that matched her eyes. Her mouth and hair were mostly covered by it but she soon removed it from her head, wrapping it around her body instead.

Angela helped her and smiled as she saw that the opposite side of the shawl was a deep red, a perfect contrast to the girl's unusually pale skin. Then she noticed the purse.

Angela's smile faded. "Sweetie, where did you get that?"

The girl immediately hid the purse behind her back. "I've always had this, Angela." she lied.

"Don't lie to me, Sweetie. I know that's not yours. Have you been stealing again?" Angela placed her hands on her hips.

The girl stayed silent, bowing her head in shame.

"Oh, Brennan, I wish you wouldn't do that." Angela said, shaking her head.

Brennan's head snapped up. "Do what? Steal? How else am I gonna get any money, Angela? Nobody will hire me! They all look at me like I don't belong here, and, really, they're right! I'm an outsider! I'm not from around here. I don't know why my parents ever insisted on moving here in the first place. I really hate them for this."

Angela's brow furrowed. "No, you don't."

Brennan sighed, wiping a stray tear. "No, I don't. But I wish I did. I wish I could hate them for this. But I can't. It's no use, because they're gone anyway."

Angela embraced her friend, rubbing a soothing hand up and down her back. "I know, Sweetie. I know."

Brennan was about to pull away and argue again when she heard a man's voice call out to her friend.

"Angela! Hey, Angela!"

Angela pulled away and turned towards the voice, smiling widely when he saw a couple of men about their age. "Jared! Sweetie, hi!" She ran over to greet them, kissing the younger one on the cheek. "How are you, cutie?"

Jared blushed visibly. "Uh, I'm good. This here's my older brother, Seeley. Seeley, this is Angela Montenegro and..."

"Oh! This here, is my very best friend, Temperance Brennan." Angela said, putting her arm around Brennan's shoulder. Brennan smiled shyly at the men, moreso to Seeley who she had to admit, was quite...captivating. What with his chocolatey brown eyes and spiky brown hair.

Seeley was immediately blown away as soon as he saw Brennan's bright blue eyes and reddish-brown hair. That same breathless feeling that he'd gotten when the thief ran by him in the village returned.

_But, how could that possibly be?_ He thought to himself. _The thief was running in the opposite direction. Anyway, I'm sure she was wearing a blue shawl, not a red one!_ But one look into her arms and Seeley knew that the thief and this girl in front of him were one and the same. She was holding the same exact purse that the thief had stolen.

"Hello," he said, "my name is Seeley."

Brennan smirked at him. "I know. Your brother has just introduced us."

Seeley blushed and rubbed the back of his neck, smiling goofily. "Oh yeah." Brennan giggled and Seeley's smiled widened. Her laugh was the most beautiful thing he's ever heard.

"My name is Temperance, but I prefer to be called by my last name, Brennan." brennan explained.

Seeley nodded. "Same with me. I _hate_ being called by my first name. You can just call me Booth."

Brennan smiled. "Booth. It's fitting. For you, I mean."

Booth grinned again and Brennan's heart seemed to leap.

"Hey, you guys ready to go eat?" Jared's voice broke through the comfortable silence the two had been sharing. Booth and Brennan turned to Angela and Jared, whose arms were interlocked, as if ready to go. They'd almost forgotten who they were with.

Brennan nodded, blushing lightly. "Um, yes. I'm quite hungry."

"Me too." Booth agreed. He turned to Brennan. "After you." He said, courteously."

Brennan smiled before walking a step in front of him as he followed. After a while he placed his hand on the small of her back.

Upon her sharp intake of breath, Booth removed his hand. "I'm sorry. Does that disturb you?" He asked.

Brennan shook her head. "Not at all. Why do you ask?"

Booth grinned that heart-stoppingly gorgeous grin of his. "No reason." he said, placing his hand back it its place, before turning back to follow Angela and Jared, his heart nearly beating out of his chest when he felt her lean towards his chest.

_This woman's gonna be the death of me._ Booth thought to himself, grinning widely. _But what a way to go._

**Em D is pregnant! Review!**


	13. Disney

**So...I just got hit with inspiration for this, and I hope you like it! Enjoy!**

Disney

"Hello, I'm Temperance Brennan," Brennan introduced herself to the young receptionist sitting behind the desk in the main office of the Disneyworld Theme Park. "I'm here because I was offered a position as a Disney Princess."

"Which one?" The blonde receptionist asked, popping her gum.

"Um..." Brennan pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and read the name off it. "Belle from Beauty and the Beast."

"Well, that fits. Looks like you won't need a wig, then."

"Belle was a brunette?" Brennan asked.

"Yeah, of course. You never seen the movie?" The receptionist asked, handing Brennan a folder.

"We're getting a lot of new people these days. Here are their names. Make friends with them 'cause you're gonna be working with them for a while. You're locker number and combo are there, too. Your costume is in the back. Rack number five."

Brennan nodded, taking the folder and walking towards the back, thanking the receptionist over her shoulder.

Once she got to the back door, labeled 'Ladies' dressing and locker room' Brennan pushed open the door, only to find two other girls half-dressed.

They both looked up at her.

"Hello." Brennan said, moving to her locker.

"Hey." The darker skinned girl greeted.

"What's up?" The taller girl said, sweetly.

Brennan looked up. "The ceiling." She said, seriously.

The tall girl giggled. "You're funny!" she laughed, before sticking out her hand. "I'm Angela. Angela Montenegro. This here's Camille Saroyan."

"Just Cam, please!" Cam said.

Brennan reached out and shook their hand. "Brennan. Temperance Brennan. Just Brennan is fine."

"Whatever suits you, Sweetie." Angela said, slipping on a yellow skirt under a blue peasant shirt. Once she was done with that, she pulled a wig out of her spacious locker and put it on, tying a deep red ribbon around it.

"Snow White?" Brennan asked, not really quite sure. It'd been a while since she'd seen any Disney movie, but she was sure that Snow White was the one that lived with all the...midgets?

Angela nodded. "Mmhmm. And I got one hot Prince Charming!"

Brennan smiled sheepishly as Cam scoffed, pulling on a bright blue belly shirt and a pair of matching harem pants. "Who are you supposed to be?" Brennan asked, not recognizing this particular princess.

"Princess Jasmine? From Aladdin?" Cam said, as if it were obvious, pulling her hair into a low ponytail. "Hey, Ange, could you..."

"Oh yeah! Of course, Sweetie!" Angela said, walking over to Cam to help her braid her hair.

"Who are you supposed to be, Sweetie?" Angela asked.

Brennan looks at her paper again. "I'm...Belle. From the Beauty and the Beast."

Both Cam and Angela stopped what they were doing to gape at Brennan.

"What?" Brennan asked as a large smile practically split Angela's face in two.

"You're replacing Hannah?" Angela asked.

"Who?"

"The last girl who played Belle was this awful blonde woman named Hannah Burley. But she and the Beast, incredibly hunky hot stuff, Seeley Booth, had a huge argument and she quit. I'm so glad, too! You seem so much nicer!"

Brennan laughed. "Thank you very much but we've just met."

Angela shrugged and went back to braiding Cam's hair.

Brennan walked over to the rack and picked out hanger number five, which had two different costumes on it.

"Which one do I wear?" Brennan asked.

"The blue one is for daytime and the gold one is for nighttime when there are parties and fireworks. Sometimes we even reenact Disney weddings but there really was never a wedding between the Beauty and the Beast, so you have nothing to worry about there, but there is the transformation..."

"What's that?"

"It's the scene where the Beast turns into a gorgeous Prince. It's rare and usually happen only on special occasions, but you get to remove Booth's mask and kiss him. I'm so jealous!" Angela pouted.

"Why?" Cam asked, looking at herself in the mirror and fixing her makeup. "You have your very own Prince Charming, both here and for real."

"Who would that be?" Brennan asked.

"Jack Hodgins. He play's Angela's prince and they're dating for real." Cam answered.

"Shut up! Nobody's supposed to know that!" Angela scolded.

"Oh come on, Angela! _Every_body knows! The only reason they don't do anything about it is because they can't afford to lose anybody right now. Especially not you two!" Cam laughed.

"What do you mean?" Brennan asked, pulling the blue dress on and tying the apron around her waist.

"Besides being amazing actors, Angela and Hodgins have great chemistry which shows when they're out walking around together, so firing them is really not an option here." Cam explained as Angela hogged the mirror, applying white powder and deep red lipstick to her face.

Brennan just nodded in understanding and put her hair up in a low ponytail with a large blue bow, before setting to do her own makeup.

It wasn't long before they heard a knock at the door, informing them they had two minutes to get outside.

Finishing up their dressing and slipping their shoes onto their feet and their street clothes into their lockers, Brennan, Cam, and Angela left the dressing room, ready for their shifts.

As they exited the room, Cam and Angela greeted their counterparts, a young man with a long black wig, dressed as a peasant, and a man about their age, with curly red hair and a beard, dressed as part of the royal family.

Both girls linked arms with their princes and set out, leaving Brennan waiting there for her prince, or, in this case, her Beast.

After a few minutes a young man, dressed in ripped clothing that covered hairy body parts, carrying a monster mask, came out of the room, obviously distressed.

But as soon as he saw Brennan, a smile split his face. "Oh, hey. Are you the new Belle?"

Brennan nodded. "Yes. Temperance Brennan. Nice to meet you." She put out her hand and one of his hairy ones took it, shocking her.

"Sorry! There's a lot of static in the air, I guess. I'm Booth. Seeley Booth. But I prefer Booth." His grin was charming and cocky and caused Brennan to smile back. "Nice to meet you. Uh, do you think you could help me get thing on." He held out the mask and Brennan nodded, taking it from him and placing it gently on his head, before buttoning the sides to his inside collar so it would stay. "Thanks." Booth said, once she finished.

"Your very welcome, Booth." Brennan said, smiling at him, getting lost in his big brown eyes, even through the mask as a barrier.

Booth smiled back, though she couldn't see it, and was mesmerized by her baby blue eyes. They were the bluest he'd ever seen, and definitely the most beautiful.

After a moment of just staring into one another's eyes, Booth finally snapped out of it. "Um, we better get going."

"Oh, yes. We really should." Brennan agreed, linking her arm through his, and smiling brightly, as a princess would, as they exited the main office and entered the wonderful world of Disney.

**Hope y'all liked that one! Who saw the finale last night! OMG! Soooo was not expecting that! Please REVIEW!**


	14. Cinderbones

**Update! Okay, this one was inspired by the play I'm doing here, in New York. Enjoy!**

Cinderbones

There once was a young girl, named Temperance, who had the most beautiful crystal blue eyes you ever saw and whose hair fell in soft, auburn tendrils around her face, and whose mother died not long after she was born, and whose father was the most important person in her life, and vice versa.

But her father, Max Brennan, had a job as a salesman that forced him to travel from village to village in the great kingdom in which they lived, leaving Temperance in the care of her nanny, Angela Montenegro.

Now Max thought this a horrible situation, where his little girl had nobody to truly care and love her and felt that she needed a mother, so he remarried.

He remarried a beautiful blonde woman with two equally as blonde daughters, though not as lucky with good looks as their mother. The woman's name was Rebecca and her daughters were named Tessa and Peyton. Though all three women acted like angels, always complimenting Temperance and helping her with the chores, when her father was gone, on business, they were horrid to her, forcing her to do all the household chores as well as the shopping. They screamed at her if she did not do it fast enough and called her names, attempting to break down her self-esteem.

But it did not work, for Temperance was a woman of logic. Logically she knew everything that her stepmother and sisters said was untrue, because by modern standards she was quite beautiful and did all she could for them, so they were wrong when they called her lazy, and she was actually quite brilliant, for she knew so much more than her stepsisters, such as how to read and write. So, she kept to her logic and reminded herself of her many talents and attributes, every time her father went out of town.

And when he came back, Temperance refused to tell him any of the terrible things that they did to her, encouraging her dear nanny to do the same. Angela, who'd been kept on to help keep up the household was reluctant to stay quiet, but knew she could not deny her Temperance, whom she'd dubbed, "Sweetie" for her kindness, though Temperance rarely showed it to anybody but Angela and her father, rather preferring to hide her feelings from others, who could use them against her.

Besides the torture her stepfamily attempted to do on her when her father was not there, Temperance stayed strong. She knew sooner or later her father would return, and they would go back to their faked-sweetness.

But, one day, while her father was on a particularly long journey, a messenger came to the door with a solemn expression and his hat in his hands, his eyes to the ground. Angela had answered the door, with Temperance right behind her, and had taken the message silently, opening it right there to read, collapsing right there in the foyer.

"Angela!" Temperance said in worry, before her eyes scanned the letter in her hand and she, too, collapsed, only this time in a fit of sobs.

Max Brennan had been in an accident. While walking from house to house a cart, whose owner had lost control of his horses, had run him over, effectively killing him within seconds. He had felt minimal pain.

Temperance was devastated, for not only had she lost the most important man in her life, but she was left in the hands of her unusually cruel stepfamily, who grieved for all of two days before moving Temperance out of her spacious bedroom into the chilly attic, and rid her of all of her mother's more beautiful ball gowns and her more decent clothes, leaving her in only rags. Angela was forced to the attic with her, though she protested hotly.

"Just who do they think they are!" she growled, unpacking hers and Temperance's things and hanging them up in the room's only closet. "Master Brennan would have been furious, had he known about this! I tell you he would have kicked all three of those bitter blondes out on their asses!"

Temperance had to laugh at that. "Relax, Angela," she soothed, "Think logically about it. Soon I will be eighteen and we'll be able to move away from here."

"With what money?" Angela asked.

Temperance pulled something out of her pocket and Angela gasped.

"No, milady! Not your mother's tiara! That was her pride and joy, after you of course!"

"I have to Angela. This tiara can pay for a new home and a few new clothes, and then I can get a job. Mister Jacobs, at the bookstore, is always offering me work, but I can't accept because of Rebecca. But as soon as we move out, I'll have work."

Angela wanted to argue but knew it futile when dealing with the stubborn Temperance Brennan, so she kept quiet and continued to clean out the attic to make it suitable to sleep in.

Over the next few weeks, Temperance and Angela's life become more unbearable than it had ever been. Angela was forced to cook every meal and bathe Tessa and Peyton nearly every day, while Temperance was forced to clean the house from top to bottom and stoke the fire, which Tessa often poured water onto just so she could force her to start the fire again. If Temperance ever spoke out about the things Tessa was doing to her, she would go to dinner without food. If she didn't get the fire started fast enough, she was sent to bed without food. If she did _anything_ too slow or in the wrong way, she was sent to bed without food.

If it hadn't been for her nanny sneaking a few biscuits to their room every night, Temperance surely would have starved.

As the months went on, Temperance became skinnier and skinnier and her clothes became black with soot, as well as many parts of her skin. Her stepsisters began to tease her further, calling her Cinderbones.

Temperance didn't care, though. She took to the nickname and began to call herself Cinderbones, along with her sisters, showing them they could do no harm with their words.

Though the girls were not allowed to hit her, for fear that injuring her would cause her the inability to clean, they often pinched and tripped her, causing her to drop whatever she was carrying or to retaliate, naturally, swiping at their fingers. This caused her to go to bed with no dinner.

One night, after nearly a year of being tortured by her stepsisters and mother, Temperance answered the door to see a young messenger, the same that had brought news about her father, and her heart leapt. Her stepfamily had gone out earlier in the morning. Could something have happened to them? She hoped so.

But this time, the young man looked happy to see her. "Good morning, milady." He bowed to her.

Temperance curtsied back, politely. "Good day, sir. What brings you here today?"

"I have come with an invitation. An invitation to the Prince's Birthday Ball. He wishes to invite you and every other available lady to the Ball, hoping to find a suitable wife." He handed her a small 3'x5' card, which simply had a time and date stamped on it in gold lettering, as well as a personal message. 'I hope to see you there. Sincerely, Prince Seeley Booth.' "I hope you and your family will attend, milady." The messenger bowed again, before leaving.

"I'm sure they will." Temperance murmured, before shutting the door.

When Rebecca returned with Tessa and Peyton in tow, she immediately sought out Temperance. "Cinderbones! Where are you, child?"

"Here, Stepmother." Temperance said, coming into the foyer to greet them and take their coats.

"Very good. Have any messengers come by with the news?" Rebecca asked.

"News, milady?"

"Of the Prince's Ball, of course! He's looking for a suitable wife, you know. And I think my daughters would be perfect for him." Temperance wanted to scoff at that.

Tessa and Peyton would make horrible wives. They were selfish, conceited, and lazy. They threw temper tantrums almost on a daily basis and it was doubtful that any man in his right mind would choose them. But she didn't say any of that. She just nodded and took the note card out of her skirt pocket. "Here it is, Ma'am. A young messenger brought by just before your return."

Rebecca smiled and snatched the card out of Temperance's hand. "Ah, very good." She read the card and frowned. "Tomorrow? Well that doesn't give us very much time to prepare, now does it? Cinderbones, I want you to go run two baths and help Angela scrub the girls from head to toe, until their skin is as pink and rosy as a…rose. And when they're nice and clean, I want you to find them each something to wear for tomorrow night. Have them try it on so that they know it will fit. When that is done I'll need you to run out to the market and pick up some groceries and perfumes. Maybe some jewelry, as well. Understood?"

Temperance nodded. "Yes, Ma'am. Ma'am?"

"What is it?" Rebecca asked, becoming annoyed.

"I am invited as well, am I not?" she asked, almost shyly.

"Whatever do you mean?" Rebecca asked, on a scoff.

"Well, the messenger said all the women in the Kingdom, and seeing as how I am a woman, logically I would be invited to go. Would I not?" Temperance hoped she would say yes. Not that she thought she had a chance with the Prince, at all. No, she heard about the vast library in the Castle and wished to explore it. She may even spend all night there, until the guards removed her.

Rebecca looked her up and down, and sniffed, "Maybe. Let's see if you can finish all the chores I give you for tomorrow and if you can get all that _grime_ off of you and find something suitable to wear, then we'll talk." With that, Rebecca turned and walked towards her bedchamber.

Smiling, Temperance ran to tell Angela and ask for her help getting Tessa and Peyton ready for the Ball.

Nearly four hours later, Temperance and Angela had the girls bathed and suited with gorgeous dresses for the Ball. Dresses that Temperance immediately recognized as her own mother's.

"I can't move another muscle." Angela complained. "Those girls are so difficult!"

Tessa and Peyton, in an effort to exhaust Temperance, had kicked and screamed the whole while they were being bathed, and had simply refused to dress themselves, so Angela and Temperance had to wrestle them into their dresses. Once they had finally gotten the dresses on the girls, they had spent nearly an hour looking at themselves in the mirror, and another hour fighting Temperance and Angela, when they attempted to prepare the girls for bed. Now they lay in boneless heaps on their beds, too tired to move.

All was silent for a few moments before Temperance heard Rebecca screech out, "Cinderbones! You must run to the shops before they close!"

Temperance looked at the clock. Half-past eight. Most shops would close in half an hour, meaning Temperance would have to hurry. Any other day, she would have protested, promising to go in the morning, but if she did, her stepmother might refuse to allow her to go to the ball. So, sighing, she heaved herself off the bed, and put on her street shoes, which were worn through with holes, and her cloak to keep her warm.

"Angela, while I'm gone, could you manage a design for my gown so I'll be able to sew it together tomorrow?" Angela groaned. "Please? This is very important."

"Okay, Sweetie. Just know that if I die from exhaustion, this is all your fault. Do you think you can live with that?"

Temperance smiled, recognizing the joking tone in Angela's voice. "As long as you have the sketch done before you die." She teased back.

Angela gasped. "You're horrible!"

Temperance chuckled as she exited the attic, picking up the list and money from the front table on her way out, making her way hurriedly to the shops.

As she exited the last shop, Temperance sighed. "Done. Finally." She said to herself, checking off the last thing on her list as she made for home. The streets were quite and only a few shopkeepers stayed, closing up shop and taking inventory. Temperance spied a few children playing in the light of their parents' shop windows and smiled at them, kindly.

She was so busy smiling at children (CREEPER ALERT) that she was taken completely by surprise when she knocked heads with a young man. "Oh!" he shouted, startled.

"Eep!" she squealed, as she was toppled over by this man.

Temperance fell on the floor and her basket fell with her, tipping over and spilling its contents on the floor. Temperance gasped, checking them over as the man started to profusely apologize and help.

"Oh, my God! I'm so sorry! Really! I didn't see you there. Here, let me help." He gathered all he could into the basket, gently as possible and Temperance ignored him, too distracted checking for any broken items.

When everything was put back safely in the basket, they both stood up. "I'm really very sorry, Miss…?"

"Bones." Temperance said, quickly, not wanting to give the strange man her real name. "My name is Bones. Just Bones."

The man nodded and bowed. "Hello, Miss Bones. I'm," he paused a second, before blurting, "Joseph."

By that alone, Temperance could tell he was lying, but she made no comment about it, instead curtsying, and nodding politely. "Hello, Joseph. Nice to meet you. Thank you for," she stopped dead in her tracks when she locked eyes with him for the first time. He was very handsome. He had spiky black hair, that stuck out from a stylish cap, a handsome, square jaw, an ever-charming smile, and, from what she could see in this light, brown eyes the color of chocolate that shined warmth on her. "F-for helping me with m-my things." Temperance blushed and looked away.

Joseph smiled at her. "No problem." His heart was pounding in his chest. Never before had he seen such beautiful eyes on such a…filthy peasant girl. Why was she covered in so much dirt? Was she a gardener? Did she live close? All these things he longed to ask her, but knew it would seem strange as they had just meant, so he settled with, "Are you going to the Prince's Ball?" He wanted to kick himself for that one. Of all the things he could have said, that was definitely the most random and odd in these circumstances.

Temperance looked up, quizzically. Why would he ask that question? Their location and situation had nothing to do with the Prince's Ball. Not that he knew of, anyway. Was he perhaps just nervous? If so, why? "Well, I may be going to the Ball. Why do you ask?"

It was Joseph's turn to blush. "Well, I just figured that maybe…I'd see you there?" the last part sounded more like a question than anything and Temperance had to smile. He was nervous!

"Perhaps." She said, "But you would have to look closely, for I may look completely different."

With that she turned away, and began walking to her home, which wasn't too far away now, hoping that the strange, handsome man wouldn't be following her.

Joseph stared after her. What did she mean by that? Was there something that he was missing? He couldn't tell if she was joking or not. She seemed so serious, but still so beautiful.

Joseph smiled. Of course he was going to find her at the Ball. He could never misjudge those big blue eyes. They were far too unique.

He was wrong. The night of the ball came and Joseph, really Prince Seeley Booth, found that nearly half of the women in the Kingdom had bright blue eyes. And half of them had nearly identical eyes to the girl named Bones.

And so far, he did not see the girl he met the night before.

His parents had him dance with each woman that came in, and for each woman he looked to their eyes first. If they didn't have blue ones, he would simply go through the motions until it was the next girl's turn.

After an hour, he became desperate. Still no sign of the blue-eyed Bones.

"Tessa! Peyton! Come now!" Rebecca called to her precious daughters, who pranced down the step, graceful as elephants and bumped into each other in the foyer, fighting over who would be the first out the door.

All three were about to leave when they heard a shout from behind them. "Wait!" Temperance called. "Wait for me!"

They all turned around, their jaws dropping from the sight that met them.

Temperance had made her own simple ball gown, made of purple and pink silk, with a flowing skirt. The ball gown may have not been fancy or elegant, but it was enough and it definitely made her look gorgeous. Especially since she'd had bathed herself so that her skin was now pink and rosy and her curls were bouncy and framed her face beautifully. Her eyes shone with excitement.

"Cinderbones?" Rebecca asked. "Just where do you think you're going?"

"To the Ball, of course, Ma'am!" Temperance said, as if it were perfectly obvious.

Rebecca shook her head. "Oh, no you don't. Look at that thing! It looks ridiculous and the material," she ripped off Temperance's right sleeve, "Weak. That dress will come off right in the Prince's hands. And you will _not_ embarrass this family that way!"

"But, you said-" Temperance protested.

"I know what I said, girl. I _said_ that you may come to the ball if this house was spotless and you had something appropriate to wear to it, but it seems neither of those things is true. I mean, look at this place! It's a pig sty!" As she said this, Rebecca knocked over a vase filled with soil, water and a bouquet of lilies. "And that dress is dreadful. We must dispose of it before anybody else sees. Right, girls?" Rebecca smiled evilly at her daughters, who pounced on Temperance, ripping her dress to shreds on her body, and leaving her in rags.

Temperance screamed, trying to fight them off, but they would not relent, not stopping until the dress was completely destroyed and she looked a mess.

Temperance saw her reflection in the mirror and began to sob. "Why?" she sobbed. "Why do you treat me so? What have I done to deserve such animosity? I clean for you! I do everything you say? So, why do you treat me like dirt?"

Rebecca glared at her, straightening her back before she responded. "Because _filth_ is what you are, Cinderbones."

Temperance sobbed harder, wrapping her arms around herself as her stepmother ushered her stepsisters out.

When they were gone, Temperance wiped away her tears and stood, gathering up the pieces of her broken dress and limping up the stairs.

When she reached the attic, she found it empty. "Angela?" she called out. There was no answer. "She probably had to meet up with her strange scientist man." Temperance mused to herself, her heart a bit crushed that she wouldn't get to vent to her nanny and good friend.

Plopping down on her bed, Temperance began to sob again. Until, that is, she heard a soothing familiar voice.

"Don't cry, Sweetie." Angela's voice floated through the air. Temperance looked up, hopefully.

"Ange?" she asked. But Angela was nowhere to be seen. "Where are you?"

"I'm right here." Angela suddenly appeared in front of her, smiling widely.

Temperance's eyes widened and she nearly fell off the narrow bed.

"Angela! How did-where-what-?" Temperance sputtered.

Angela chuckled, low and throaty. "Relax, Sweetie. I guess I should have told you this a long time ago, but I'm a fairy."

Temperance furrowed her brow. "But fairies aren't real, Angela. It's impossible."

"So is appearing out of nowhere, right?" Angela asked, smirking.

Temperance shrugged. "I see your point. But, why did you wait so long to tell me this?"

Angela shrugged. "Your father swore me to secrecy and then I figured the evil blondes would try to use me for some evil take-over-the-world plot, so I kept hiding it. It sorta became a habit. Sorry, Sweetie."

"That's okay. So, does that mean you can grant wishes?" Temperance asked.

Angela frowned at her. "That's genies, Sweetie. I can't grant wishes but I can do something for you."

"Like what?" Temperance asked.

"I can help you get to the Ball with a beautiful gown, and a pretty sweet coach." Angela smiled smugly.

"But how? I don't have enough usable fabric for a dress and all the coaches have been rented." Temperance complained.

"Yes, but we don't need fabric or some rented coach. We have something better."

"What?"

Angela grinned widely. "Magic."

"But, there's no such thing as-"

"Quiet before I slap you. Now close your eyes."

Temperance did as she was told. "How is this gonna help?"

"You'll see. Now open them."

Temperance opened her eyes and was shocked by her reflection in the mirror at the far end of the mirror. Though cracked, the mirror perfectly reflected Temperance in a beautiful bright blue ball gown, the same shade of her eyes. The gown had a princess skirt that flowed around her ankles when she turned and her long auburn curls were up in an elegant bun on the top of her head. Around her neck was a jewel-encrusted choker, with sapphires as blue and deep as the ocean. "Angela," Temperance breathed, "this dress is…_amazing_."

Angela smiled proudly. "I do what I can. Do you like the shoes?"

Temperance lifted the skirt, smiling down at a pair of clear glass slippers that perfectly fit her feet. "I adore them." Temperance said smiling. "The heel is a bit loose, though."

Angela chuckled. "Well, you have some pretty small heels, girl. I think there's one thing missing, though."

Temperance looked up at her. "What's that?"

Angela walked over to the armoire and pulled out Temperance's mother's tiara, which sparkled silver in the moonlight. "Ange! No! Not my mother's tiara!"

"Why not, Sweetie? You might as well get in one more night of use before you sell the thing, right?"

Temperance sighed. She couldn't fight Angela's logic and the tiara would fit perfectly on her head. "Fine. But, just so you know, I'm just going to be spending all my time in the Grand Library tonight anyway."

"Oh, no you're not! You're going to dance with that Prince! At least once! Promise me." It was a command.

Temperance sighed. "Fine then. I'll dance with the Prince. Only once though."

Angela smiled. "Good. Once is all you'll have time for anyway. You need to be back here by midnight."

"Why midnight?"

"Because that's when my magic starts to wear off and you'll be back in rags. The only thing that will remain are the slippers and your mother's tiara."

"What? Why?" Temperance was outraged. She'd planned on spending all night in the library, reading its fascinating books on the most outrageous subjects. And now she finds out that she won't have the time to even read just _one_ book.

"I dunno, kid. Those are just the rules. Now hurry up and get downstairs. There's a surprise waiting for you outside." Angela practically shoved the tiara onto Temperance's head and pushed her out the door.

Upon arrival in the foyer, Temperance was amazed to see a horse and carriage, with a coachman at the reins and another holding the door open and bowing.

"Temperance, say hello to Zack and Wendell. They will take you wherever you need to go."

"Zack and Wendell? Isn't that what you named the mice?" Angela grinned and nodded. "So, these are the mice then. Interesting. Where'd you get the carriage?"

"Does that really matter? Just go, already! And don't forget to be back by midnight!"

Temperance entered the carriage and took her seat, sniffing at the strange smell she encountered. "Why does it smell like pumpkin?" she asked herself aloud as the carriage took off down the road.

Seeley sighed. It was nearly half past ten and still no sign of his blue-eyed Bones. _She must be here._ He thought to himself, as he pushed around a slender blonde woman.

The woman, whose name he learned was Hannah, was gossiping incessantly with-or rather, _at_- him and he just continued to nod and look around the room at the still long line of women awaiting their turns.

Finally, Hannah's dance was over and Seeley thought it time to take a break.

As the next woman, another little blonde who seemed to be fighting with her equally as blonde sister, ran up to him, he placed a hand in front of himself to stop her. "Very sorry, milady. I just need a short break. I will be back soon."

With that, Seeley took off up the Ballroom steps and down to hall through the great double doors to the Grand Library.

Entering quickly, so nobody would notice him, Seeley sighed, grateful to be away from all the crazy women.

They had been hounding him all night, and though he tried take interest in them, none seemed as interesting or as lovely as his Bones, the one woman who, it seemed, did not show up to the ball tonight.

Seeley sighed again and grabbed one of his favorite books from the shelf and plopped down in one of the libraries comfortable chairs to read and relax until he had to go back outside.

Five minutes passed, then ten, then twenty. Soon he had been sitting there, in the silence, reading for a full thirty minutes.

He would have read longer, too, if it hadn't been for the sudden noise of the library door opening.

As they arrived at the front door of the Castle, Temperance had to take a deep breath to ease her nerves. She couldn't believe what was happening. She had disobeyed her stepmother for the first time in over a year and was about to get what she's wished for, for nearly as long.

She was going to see the Grand Library.

Accepting Zack's help to get out of the carriage, Temperance thanked him and headed up the stairs, and through the front door, held open by a man in a guard's uniform.

Temperance nodded to him as he gave her directions to the Ballroom and walked in the direction he told her, before making a quick turn in the direction she knew lead to the library.

Once she found the beautiful oak double doors, Temperance smiled widely and practically skipped to them, opening the elegant doors as quickly and as quietly as possible.

But, it was futile. The doors let out a large creek, which caused Temperance to cringe and hold her breath, awaiting the arrival of the Palace Guards.

When they didn't come after several heart-pounding moments, Temperance continued into the library, marveling at the rows and rows of bookshelves. She was just about to reach up and take one down when a voice startled her. "Who goes there?" the voice demanded.

Temperance started and frowned. She could swear she heard that voice before, yet no one had ever talked so rough to her before, not a man, anyway. "I-I'm sorry." She called back. "I-I just w-wanted to see the library. I-I didn't mean to intrude." She looked around for the voice, not seeing anybody until a young man, in royal garb stepped forward from behind a bookshelf.

"Oh!" Temperance bowed to the man. "Prince Seeley! I'm very sorry, sir. I-"

She was cut off when she looked into his eyes.

_No._ She thought, wide-eyed. _It couldn't be. Not the man she met in the market. What was his name? Joseph!_

She seemed to have the same affect on the Prince, for the moment he saw her, a large smile broke over his face. "Bones? Is it you?"

Temperance tried to school her features and look confused. "Bones? No, your Highness. My name is Temperance. Temperance Brennan."

Seeley's face fell. "Oh, well, I'm very sorry, Miss. And I would appreciate it if you'd just call me Seeley."

"That's quite alright, Pr-Seeley." Temperance responded, her heart fluttering at the charming smile he sent her at the sound of his name. "I'm sorry I'm not the woman you are looking for, but maybe you could tell me more about her?"

Seeley's grin widened. "Yes, of course! That is, if you really wish to hear my story, above all the others we have hear."

"Oh, I do!" Temperance blushed. "I would really…like to hear it. I'm sure it is more interesting than any fictional story I can find here."

Seeley smiled and motioned for her to sit before him. She did, and he sat next to her on a soft couch.

"Well, this woman-her name is Bones-and she is amazing! Simply gorgeous. I've only met her once, but there seems to be something intriguing about her, you see. She seemed very…opinionated. And not like any of the other drooling females out there." He motioned towards the doors. "She was…different."

Temperance smiled. "You think so, yet you say you barely even know her."

"Yes, but, I don't know. It was somewhat of a feeling, deep within, I got while looking into her eyes. She has the most beautiful eyes, too. Like clear crystals puddles of blue. They're so unique. Almost like yours." Temperance blushed and looked away, "Don't be embarrassed, Temperance. That is why I mistook you for her. You also have a very similar hair color to her, though it was very dark at the time, so I don't think I quite recall the color correctly." Temperance laughed at the irony of that statement.

"And what about the rest of her? What did that look like?" she asked.

"I couldn't tell you if it were daylight. You see, her face was absolutely covered in soot and her clothes, including her cloak, were very worn through and old." Temperance blushed again, but kept her composure, so as not to give herself away. "But, still, she was the most beautiful and unique woman I'd ever met. No competition. No offense, milady."

Temperance smiled, feeling her heart pounding roughly against her chest. "None taken, in the least, your Highness."

"Anyway, I had hoped to find her tonight while dancing, but no such luck. She's simply not here tonight."

"So, you gave up?" Temperance asked.

Seeley nodded. "At least for now. The night is still young. In fact," he smiled at Temperance, "would you like to dance with me, Temperance?"

Temperance blushed and looked away. "I'm sure there must be a whole room filled with women who have been waiting for a dance with your Highness, who may be mad if I stole their chance."

"Well, then, let them get mad. I don't care. It's just one dance, right?" Temperance looked up into his smiling face and smiled back.

"Yes, I suppose. Just one dance."

As they made their way to the Ballroom, Seeley didn't take his hand off the protective spot of her lower back, causing chills to run up and down her spine as they walked.

When they reentered the Ballroom, everything seemed to freeze as the spotlight found the Prince and his new lady friend.

Every single one of the waiting women shot glares at Temperance as she descended the steps with their precious Prince Seeley, whose smile seemed to light up the room.

They seemed to float to the center of the dance floor, where Seeley turned to face Temperance, taking one of her hands in his and moving his hand from her lower back to her hip. "You ready?" he mouthed to her and she nodded, smiling.

They began to sway to the music, gliding across the dance floor as the spotlight followed their every move. Soon Temperance released Seeley's hand and placed both arms around his neck, while he placed his around her waist. Music played softly in the background, and Temperance willed them to slow the tempo so that she could stay in this dance with Seeley forever.

She'd only known him a few hours and already she felt closer to him than any of the books in the library she planned on reading that night. He was so much more important than those books, and though he didn't know it, she was touched that he'd recognized her from the street and described her so perfectly, even though he'd barely really seen her.

_If he only knew_…she thought, sadly. She squeezed him tighter and he squeezed back, looking into her eyes with a soft smile. She smiled back and leaned her forehead on his, never breaking her stride. Seeley's smile widened.

_It has to be her._ He thought. _This must be my Bones. There's no mistaking. This is her._

Leaning down, he softly touched her lips with his. It was so faint that she should not have been able to feel it, but she did.

Volts of electricity seemed to run down her spine at the feeling of his lips touching hers, and she immediately moved to deepen the kiss, but pulled back by the sound of the clock chiming.

Temperance's eyes widened and she backed away. "I have to go." Was all she said, with tear-filled eyes, before turning and running up the stairs and through the door, feeling lighter every second, as her dress shrank back to the same old rags she was wearing before.

Temperance hurried down the stairs to the Castle gates, tripping a bit as her heel slipped out of one of her shoes and it came off. She turned to go back for it, but stopped when she saw Seeley run out the doors, looking around for her.

Temperance immediately turned back and ran through the gates, not waiting for Zack and Wendell, who were scurrying behind her, to catch up.

She didn't stop running until she was home, and even then she ran up the stairs to her bedroom, where Angela was sat up in bed, reading.

Her book went away as soon as she saw Temperance looking so distressed. "Sweetie! What's wrong?" she dropped the book and was at Temperance's side in seconds.

Temperance shook her head. There were no words to describe what had happened to her. She just buried her face in her friend's chest and sobbed. Angela immediately understood that now was not the time to talk, but to just hold her friend and be there for her.

The next morning, everything was back to normal. Tessa and Peyton were back to their spoiled and complaining selves, fuming over how the Prince had only danced until midnight with one girl, who'd run out on him, refusing to dance with anybody else for the rest of the night.

"We didn't even get a good look at the little tramp!" Tessa whined.

"Yeah, I would've really liked to give her a piece of my mind." Peyton agreed.

"Looks like you'll get your chance soon." Angela said, entering the kitchen with a letter in her hand. "The Prince is looking for his mystery woman. All women are required to stay at home and wait for the prince to visit with the woman's missing slipper. Every woman must try it on. The woman whose foot it fits and who fits the Prince's description of his mystery woman, will have his hand in marriage." Angela looked pointedly at Temperance, but she pointedly ignored her.

"I thought the woman might have told him her name." Tessa said.

"She did, but he says he won't release her name until he has found the one. He wouldn't want anybody trying to impersonate her."

"That makes no sense." Peyton protested.

Angela rolled her eyes at the girl's cluelessness, before walking over to Temperance and pulling her out of the room. "Sweetie," she whispered, "You have to tell him the truth!"

"What truth? That I'm practically a slave girl to my stepfamily. That I'm not the independent, outgoing girl that he thought I was. That I'm no better than a mouse around here. No thanks, Ange."

"Sweetie, you _know_ that doesn't matter to him. He even pretty much told you so. He was amazed by who you truly are. Hell, he spent nearly twenty minutes dancing with you. He _kissed_ you!"

"No! He kissed the beautiful girl with the beautiful dress, and who wasn't covered in grime and soot! He did not kiss me!" With that, Temperance was off, running back into the kitchen to finish preparing breakfast, and then start on what the girls had asked for, for lunch; Filet Mignon. She didn't even wait for Angela to join her in the preparation.

Nearly three hours later, Temperance had lunch prepared and ready to serve to the girls. She was about to walk out with it into the dining room, when she heard the doorbell. Temperance stopped in her tracks. That could only be one person. One person that she didn't wish to see.

Temperance backtracked to the kitchen and placed the dishes in the oven to keep warm, while her stepmother and sisters entertained their royal guest.

Though, she couldn't help herself from listening at the closed door.

"My goodness! Your Highness! What brings your Majesty to our humble abode?" Rebecca asked, overdramatically; She knew exactly why he was there.

"Milady, I am sure you must have gotten the message of our quest." Seeley responded, politely.

"Oh, yes! This is about the slipper you found. We've been wondering where that had gone!"

"So, you are missing a slipper, Madam?" Seeley asked, unbelievingly.

"Yes, a little glass one. One of my daughters. I forget which one, may have dropped it last night at the Ball, after your dance."

"Well, then, this may be theirs then. Please call them in so we can have a look see if it truly does fit."

"Of course. Tessa!" Rebecca called. "Peyton!"

Temperance could hear the muffled scuffling of the girls as they raced each other to be the first out the door. "Yes, Mother?" they chorused, like perfect little angels.

"Prince Seeley would like you each to try on the glass slipper he found to see if it is the one you lost."

"What? What are you talking about, Mother?" The girls dumbly replied. Temperance heard a soft, 'Oof!' as Rebecca or Peyton must have elbowed Tessa in the ribs.

"Don't argue, young lady, just try on the slipper." Rebecca ordered.

There was a sound of groans and grunts as they tried to get the slipper on Tessa's foot. "It won't fit! It's too small!" Tessa complained.

"Then it must belong to your sister. Peyton, put on your slipper."

There was a sound of triumph as the slipper seemed to fit. Temperance felt her heart drop.

There was silence for a moment before Seeley spoke. "Walk around as normally as possible." He requested.

There was the sound of a chair creaking as Peyton stood up and began to walk. Not three steps were made before it seemed she tripped, if her yelp of pain and the dull thud of the ground were any indication.

"It doesn't belong to you, either, it seems." Seeley sighed. "Tell me, is there a woman here with auburn hair and blue eyes by the name, Temperance?"

"Actually-" Tessa began, only to get another elbow to the gut by her mother.

"No, there is no one by that description here. I'm sorry." Rebecca lied.

Temperance frowned and moved away from the door, a tear falling down her cheek. She wanted, more than anything, to run out there and jump into his arms and kiss him over and over again, until he was sure that it was her. She was Bones. She was Temperance.

But she couldn't. Not because she didn't want him or because she didn't think he loved her back. But because his love might not last if he saw her like this again. If he saw that she was just some common slave to these people, with none of the independence that he thought her to possess. Just obedience.

She was about to go up to her room, when Angela swooped down, hooking on to her arm and effectively dragging her out the kitchen door and into the foyer, just as Seeley was about to exit. Angela whistled and he stopped dead in his tracks when she called out to him, "Hey, Princey! This who you're lookin' for?" She held Temperance in front of her, looking shocked and paler than normal.

"Temperance?" Seeley said, a slow smile, forming on his lips. Temperance refused to look at him, not trusting herself to keep her composure if she saw his face. "Temperance, look at me, please."

Temperance lifted her head slowly, until she met his smiling eyes with hers. In that moment, Temperance seemed to pounce, throwing herself into his arms, burying her head in his chest. "Yes." Was all she said and Seeley wrapped his arms around her.

"Bones?" he asked.

"Yes." Temperance answered, looking up at him. "I'm so sorry I didn't tell you the truth before. It's me. I'm Bones. I'm Temperance. I'm everybody you want me to be, except…"

"Except what, Bo-Temperance?" Seeley asked.

"I'm a slave here." Temperance said, as she moved out of his arms. "You don't want a slave."

Seeley stepped toward her. "Hey, you are not a slave." He said, cupping her face in his hands. "You're Temperance. You're Bones. You're the woman I love. The woman I want to marry. But you are not a slave. Not anymore."

Temperance smiled, quivering, up at him. "Bones is fine."

Seeley furrowed his brow in confusion. "What?"

Temperance chuckled. "As a nickname. I like it more than Temperance. Never really liked that name anyway."

Seeley chuckled. "Is that all you heard?"

Temperance shook her head. "No, I also heard you say you love me and something about marriage?" Seeley nodded. "Do you mean that? You would really marry me, with the very little I have?"

Seeley nodded more enthusiastically. "Of course! I love you, Bones. And I'd like to make you my wife, more than anything. Besides, I'm a Prince. I have plenty to spare."

Temperance chuckled. "That's true." She said, smiling up at him. "But, I don't know if marriage is for me. At least, not so soon. I only met you a few days ago, after all."

Seeley frowned. "Yes, but I still love you more than I've ever loved anybody and I know you love me."

Temperance smirked. "How could you possibly know that?"

"Your eyes."

"What about my eyes?"

"The eyes are the windows to the soul, you know. And your soul is telling my soul right now that you love me." Seeley explained, squeezing Temperance a little.

"Traitorous thing." Temperance sighed, smiling up at him. "Okay, then. I guess there's really no hiding it now that my _soul_ has given it away. Yes, Seeley, I do love you, but no, I will not marry you…yet."

"Fine, but at least move in with me. I've got a huge library, you know." He smiled charmingly at her.

Temperance giggled. "Well, then, since you have a library…" She looked up at him, adoringly, "I love you, Seeley."

"I love you, too, Temperance." Seeley responded, leaning down to capture her lips with his in a sweet, loving kiss.

When they pulled back, they were smiling widely. That is, until they were rudely interrupted.

"Hey, you guys…we may have a little problem over here." Temperance and Seeley looked over to where she was standing by Rebecca, Tessa, and Peyton, all frozen with horrified expressions on their faces. "They won't even blink. What should we do?"

"Just leave them there. They'll get over it eventually." Temperance replied with a wave of her hand as she followed Seeley out the door.

Angela just shrugged and ran after them. "Hey, wait up! I'm not staying here with them!"

**Okay, finally done! This has been a whole school week in the making! And sorry she didn't try on the slipper but booth definitely would have recognized her! Don't you think? Anyways, please REVIEW!**


	15. Blind Date Part 2

**Update!**

Continuation of Blind Date (As Requested)

"So...Brennan, what is it exactly that you do?" Booth asked, leaning forward in his seat.

Brennan smiled. "I'm a physical anthropologist."

"I know that, but what does _that_ mean exactly." he asked, grinning charmingly.

"It means that using information present on the bones of victims who died of unknown or unnatural causes, I can tell you their identity, how they died, and sometimes even _who_ killed them." Brennan explained, taking a sip of her wine.

"Impressive." Booth said.

"Thank you." Brennan replied, smiling proudly at him. "What is it that you do for a living?"

"FBI Special Agent, actually. Just transferred from Philly."

"That's interesting. But why the sudden change? Did your son move out here with his mother?" Brennan asked, casually.

Booth choked a little on his wine. "My what? Angela told you about Parker?"

Brennan nodded. "Yes. Was she not supposed to?"

"No, no! It's fine. I just...I was planning on getting to know you a little better before bringing him up. For most women, having a kid is sort of a deal breaker, no matter how rare it is to see him." Booth mumbled.

"You don't get to see him very often? How come?" Brennan asked.

"Well, his mother is...I can't really explain it without making her sound selfish, which she isn't. She just...I dunno. I just don't get to see him as much as I'd like to."

"Well, that's not very fair. You are the child's father, after all. You deserve to be as big a part in his life as his mother."

"Yeah, thanks. You got kids?"

Brennan shook her head. "No, but I am a registered Foster Parent."

"Oh, really, what's that like?"

"Not very interesting, really. I haven't had many kids go through. Usually the kids that I get are almost of legal age and leave soon anyway, so they're more like visitors."

Booth nodded. "It's still a nice thing to do, lending your home to someone in need. Do they keep in touch?"

Brennan nodded. "Some of them. One of the older boys I had about a year ago asked me to marry him. I believe it was just a joke though."

Booth chuckled. "Good thing, too, or I might never have gotten my chance."

Brennan grinned at him, blushing slightly. "That's very kind of you to say. Thank you."

"My pleasure." Booth replied, smiling back at her.

Just then, the waitress brought out their food. "Okay, here we are. Eggplant parmigiana for the lady and veal with penne for the sir. Is there anything else I can get for you. More wine, perhaps?" Booth and Brennan shook their heads. "Okay, then. Enjoy your meals. Just call me over if you need anything else."

"Thank you." Brennan said as the waitress disappeared, before turning to her plate. "This looks quite good."

"No kidding." Booth said, digging in. He took a piece of his veal and placed it in his mouth. "Oh God. This is orgasmic."

Brennan laughed throatily. "I highly doubt a piece of cow could give you that much pleasure."

"Oh, yeah? Try it." Booth held a piece out to her, but she refused.

"I'm a vegetarian." She said, taking a piece of her own meal. "But, this is also quite good. Would you like some?"

Booth shook his head. "No, thank you. I'll just stick to my meat. How long have you been a vegetarian?"

"About three years now. I started when I began to have stomach problems from beef. I do enjoy fish, though."

"Yeah, fish are pretty good. I should make you Trout one day. I make the best Trout you ever tasted."

Brennan smiled at the prospect of another date. "That would be acceptable."

Booth grinned joyously. She had agreed to his subtle attempt at asking her out on a second date. Score!

They ate in companionable silence for a while longer until they had both finished their meals and their waitress showed up again. "Can I interest you in any dessert?" she asked.

Booth nodded. "Oh, definitely. Can I get a piece of Apple Pie, with some vanilla ice cream on top?" The waitress nodded, writing it down on her pad and turned to Brennan.

"And for you, Ma'am?"she asked.

"Your Crème Brulee looks good. May I have that, please?" The waitress nodded.

"I'll be back in five minutes with your desserts. Would you like coffee, as well?" They nodded. "Okay, be right back!"

"Creme Brulee? Pretty fancy, Bones." Booth commented.

"Not re-did you just call me Bones?" Brennan asked.

Booth grinned. "Yep."

"Why?"

"Because you work with bones, ergo the nickname." Booth explained, casually.

"Well then, should I call you Crimes?" Brennan teased.

"Haha...very funny. No, Booth will be just fine, thank you."

"And Brennan will do just fine as well." Brennan replied.

"Whatever you say, Bones." Booth joked.

Brennan was about to retort when the waitress came back with their dessert and coffee. "Here you are, folks. Apple pie a la mode for the sir and crème brulee for the lady." She put their desserts and coffee in front of them. "Anything else?"

"Just the check, please." Booth asked, politely.

The waitress nodded, before walking off.

Booth took a bite of his pie and moaned. "And I thought the veal was orgasmic. Here. Try this."

Brennan declined. "No, thank you. I don't like my fruit cooked."

"Oh, come on. Taste it and I'll give you a kiss." Booth tried to coax her, smiling cockily.

Brennan grinned. "Is that supposed to persuade me?"

"That depends...is it working?"

Brennan smiled and leaned forward, opening her mouth. Booth grinned and fed her a forkful of pie with ice cream. Brennan took a bite and leaned back, swallowing her bite and licking her lips. "Mmm. That is good." she said, grinning. "Now, about that-"

She was interrupted by the waitress bringing their check. Booth whipped out his credit card and gave it to her.

When the waitress left to scan his card, Booth leaned over and pecked Brennan on the lips softly.

"That's it?" Brennan asked, slightly disappointed and slightly excited by the feelings the kiss sparked in her.

"That's just a taste. I'll give you more outside. Patience, Bones. Patience." Brennan barely noticed that he called her Bones as she was too excited by the notion of a promised kiss.

When the check finally came and they stepped outside, Booth grabbed Brennan and pulled her into the alley, pushing her against the wall and landing his lips roughly on hers. Both moaned at the contact, feeling electricity move up and down their spines. Brennan wrapped her arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist, pulling her towards him.

When they pulled apart for air, Brennan moaned as Booth placed wanting kisses up and down her neck. "Apartment." Brennan breathed.

Booth shook his head. "Not. On. First. Date." he said, between kisses.

Brennan moaned, squeezing him tighter. "But..." Booth's blazing gaze shut her up almost immediately.

"Not on a first date, Bones. I never bed a girl until at least the fourth date." Booth explained.

"What are you doing for breakfast tomorrow? And lunch? And dinner?" Brennan asked. "That all counts as three more dates, right?"

Booth chuckled. "Oh, God, it better." He moaned, kissing her again.

Before it could progress any further, Booth pulled away, rubbing the pink lipstick off his lips and helping Brennan make herself look a little more presentable before they stepped out of the alley, hand in hand.

"You need a ride home?" Booth asked, still slightly out of breath.

Brennan shook her head. "No. I took my car here."

"Good." Booth laughed. "I walked."

Brennan chuckled. "Do you need a ride home?"

Booth shook his head. "Nah...I don't live too far from here." He looked around awkwardly. "I'd offer to walk you to your car, but it might be too tempting."

Brennan laughed. "I know what you mean. But my car is right there, actually." She pointed to a silver sportscar.

Booth whistled. "Nice car."

"Thank you. It's a gift from my publishers."

"Publishers?"

"Oh, I'm also a writer."

Booth chuckled. "You don't say. Well, I guess I better let you go, then." He didn't let go of her hand. "It's harder than I though it'd be."

Brennan laughed, leaning in to kiss him one more time. "I know what you mean."

Booth grinned. "So, I'll see you tomorrow for breakfast? Eight AM at the Royal Diner?"

Brennan nodded. "That sounds good. You're gonna have to let go first, though."

Booth let go of her hand, reluctantly. "Okay." he said, pouting. "I'll see you tomorrow, Bones."

Brennan smiled. "Bye, Booth." she said, before getting in her car and driving off.

_Wow. _Was the thought that entered both minds at that exact moment.

**Hope you liked this companion piece! Please REVIEW!**


	16. University Cont

**New Story!**

University (cont.)

Brennan sat at the bar, looking at her watch every few minutes as she waited for Booth to arrive. They had parted ways after their evening class to go home and get changed for their date, and Booth was now fifteen minutes late. Brennan sighed, think, maybe, he'd stood her up.

Throwing a couple bills on the bar by her glass, Brennan stood up, readying herself to leave.

"Hey, where're you going?" A voice said behind her.

Brennan turned and smiled at Booth, who was standing there in a red button down and a pair of black suit pants, holding a bouquet of hand-picked Daisies. "Hey," she said, "You made it."

Booth smiled, sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry I'm late. My room made had...company. It took him about twenty minutes to finish and another thirty to change and get over here. I picked these on my way to make up for it, though. Thought you might like them."

Brennan smiled and nodded, taking the flowers. "Yes, they're my favorite."

Booth smiled. "Good. I'm glad. So, you ready to eat then?" Brennan nodded and allowed Booth to lead her to a table. "You look nice tonight, by the way." Booth commented as he pulled out a chair for her to sit in.

Brennan smiled, sweetly. "Thank you."

She was wearing a deep purple sundress with spaghetti straps and her hair was down in waves, framing her face. She put on a little bit of makeup, but not too much since Angela told her she didn't want to seem slutty. On her feet she wore a pair of simple gold sandals.

"You look very handsome, yourself." Brennan complimented.

Booth grinned, cockily. "Why, thank you, Bones."

Brennan smirked. "I believe I asked you not to call me that anymore."

"Sorry, Bones. I can't help calling you that, Bones. I guess it's just a habit, Bones." He teased, good-naturedly.

Brennan smirked. "Very funny." She replied.

Their banter was interrupted by a young, blonde waitress showing up at their table. "Hello, I'm Hannah. Can I get you something to drink?" she asked, looking at only Booth.

Booth didn't even spare her a glance, only having eyes for the woman across from him, as it seemed they were in a staring contest. "I'll just have a Budweiser, thanks."

Brennan stared back at him. "Guinness, please." She said.

The waitress nodded. "Okay, then, I'll be right back with your drinks." She walked off feeling very rejected from the handsome man sitting at the table.

Booth and Brennan's staring contest went on for a few more seconds until Brennan blinked when Booth's hand came down on the table.

"Ha!" Booth exclaimed. "I win!"

"No fair!" Brennan pouted. "You cheated!"

Booth scoffed. "I am _appalled_ that you would accuse me of such things, Miss Brennan."

Brennan smirked. "I wouldn't have to _accuse_, Mister Booth, if you just played by the rules of the game."

Booth stuck his tongue out at her, childishly and Brennan giggled.

"You're very much like a six year old." She commented.

"I know you are but what am I?" Booth said in a whiny, childlike voice.

Brennan laughed again as the waitress came out carrying their drinks. Placing two napkins down on the table, she placed their bottles on them. "Are you ready to order?" she asked.

Booth and Brennan shook their heads. "Just a couple more moments, please?" Brennan asked.

The waitress nodded, before winking at Booth once, and walking away, swaying her hips slightly.

Booth didn't seem to notice. He was too busy staring at what she'd written on his napkin.

'My number is 555-2647. Call anytime. .'

"Geez..." Booth groaned. He showed the napkin to Brennan.

Brennan frowned slightly and shrugged. "She's very attractive. Maybe you should call her."

"You don't really want me to call her, do you?" Booth asked.

Brennan shrugged and looked away. "If you want to..."

"Hey," Booth said, reaching over and boldly taking her hand, "I'm not really that interested in her. Right now, I'm only interested in the girl sitting across from me."

"Woman." Brennan mumbled.

"Excuse me?" Booth asked.

Brennan looked up, her eyes glittering slightly. "I'm not a girl. I am, however, a young woman."

Booth grinned. "Yeah, you're the only woman I have eyes for, Bones." Booth said, gently rubbing his thumb over her hand."

"I don't know what that means very well, but I think I understand." Brennan replied, smiling back.

Booth smiled back and ripped the note from his napkin, flicking it to the floor. "Hey, wanna go get something else to eat? I'm not really feeling this place anymore."

Brennan nodded. "That would be acceptable." Brennan said, standing up.

Booth smiled and threw a few bills on the table, before placing his hand on Brennan's back and leading her out, with the bouquet of Daisies in her arms.

Half an hour later, they were sitting on a picnic table outside a local pizza place, sharing a medium cheese pizza. "So, Bones," Brennan smirked at him at the nickname, "what's your major?"

"Anthropology." Brennan replied. "What's yours?"

"Double Major; Psychology and Law." Booth replied.

"What kind of law?" Brennan asked. "Law Enforcement or Attorney?"

"The first one; Law Enforcement. I'm going to Quantico to train for the FBI next year." Booth informed her, proudly.

Brennan furrowed her brow. "What year are you?"

"I'm only a Sophomore, but my training is only going to be a month at a time. I'll go for a full six months after I graduate. What's Anthropology like?"

"Very interesting and very different from Psychology."

"How so?"

"Well, Anthropologists study world cultures and how each culture differs in differing regions and how they society shapes human behavior."

"Sounds pretty cool." Booth said.

Brennan nodded. "It's very informative. I'm hoping to become a Forensic Anthropologist when I graduate."

"What do they do?" Booth asked.

Brennan nodded. "They look at the bones of murder victims to find out how they died and what weapon was used to kill them, so it's a sort of Science, as well."

"That's cool." Booth said, smiling, finishing up the last bite of his pizza. "You done?" Brennan nodded, throwing the last of her crusts into the box. Booth picked it up and brought it over to the trash can, throwing it out, before returning and laying down on the table.

Brennan looked at him like he had three head. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"Looking at the stars." Booth replied, simply. "Come up here with me." He reached out his hand towards her.

Brennan smirked and grabbed his hand, allowing him to pull her up until she was laying down with her head on his arm.

"Aren't they beautiful?" Booth asked, turning to look at her.

Brennan nodded. "Yeah, they are. Look, that one's Delphinus." She pointed up to a small cluster of stars. Booth could just make out the shape of a dolphin.

"Wow…I never noticed that one before." Booth said.

Brennan smiled. "It was my mother's favorite." Booth turned to look at her and noticed her eyes shining with tears.

"Bones?" he whispered. "What's wrong?"

Brennan shook her head. "It's nothing. Just…my mother died when I was very young."

Booth frowned. "How young?"

"I was fifteen. Both my parents…died." She lied. She was never able to tell anyone the truth. Her parents had disappeared without a trace. _Nobody _knew what happened to them, or even if they were still alive, but Brennan always told people that she was an orphan because it was better than facing the truth.

Her parents had left her.

Booth reached over with his hand and squeezed hers, awkwardly. "My mom died when I was young, too." He whispered.

Brennan squeezed his hand and laid her head on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Booth."

"I'm okay." Booth assured her. "I think my Dad took it worse than I did and my brother was still just a kid, so he doesn't remember her all too well."

"You have a brother?" Brennan asked.

Booth nodded. "Yeah. Jared. Little pain in my ass. He's at Penn State right now."

Brennan nodded. "I have a brother too."

"Really? What's he like?" Booth asked.

"I don't really know. He left after our parents…died."

"He just left you? What an ass."

"It's a little more complicated than that, but thank you for your concern."

Booth grinned. "Anytime."

They just lay there looking at stars for a moment before Brennan spoke up again. "Booth?"

Booth looked over at her. "Yeah, Bones?"

"Thank you." Brennan said, smiling at him, her clear blue eyes shining in the moonlight.

"For what?" Booth asked.

"For not judging me. For just listening to what I have to say and for revealing a few things about yourself."

Booth smiled softly at her. "No problem. But, you know what's strange?"

"What?" Brennan said, still smiling at him.

Booth leaned a little more towards her until they were only a few breaths apart. "I've dated women and girls for months at a time, years even, and not once have I ever mentioned my parents or my past, but one night with you and I'm willing to tell you my life's story."

Brennan smiled. "I feel the same way." She leaned forward a bit as well.

Booth grinned. "Do you believe in fate?"

Brennan smirked back, leaning in one more inch. "Of course not. That's ludicrous."

Booth smirked and leaned in that last inch, capturing her lips with his in a passionate, frenzied kiss.

**Okay, so I might have another part to this if people still want it, but it might change the rating of the whole story. So be warned. Please REVIEW!**


	17. Blind Date Part 3

**Switching to 'M'-rating...NOW.**

Blind Date Part Three

"So...?" Booth said, grinning at Brennan, who was walking languidly next to him.

Brennan sighed. "I was a complete nerd." she said, blushing.

Booth smiled. "I knew it!"

Brennan grinned and smacked him in the arm. "Shut up..."

They smiled at each other. So far they were on their third date since meeting the night before and they had reservations at a nice Italian restaurant in about three hours, so they decided to take a walk through the park, hoping to kill some time.

"What were you in High School?" Brennan asked.

"I was sort of a jock." Booth answered, rubbing the back of his neck. "I played Hockey, Basketball, Baseball, and Football."

"When did you find time to study?"

"Well, the sports were seasonal. Like I was on a Summer Baseball League, Basketball was in the Winter, Football in the Fall, and Hockey was in the Spring. As for studying, I had a couple tutors to help me out, but I wasn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed."

"I don't know what that means."

"Eight." Booth said, randomly.

"What?"

"How many times you've said that very same thing." Booth answered. Brennan pouted and he laughed, slinging his arms around her shoulders. "Don't worry, I'll teach you pop culture and you teach me all that science-y stuff."

Brennan smiled, leaning into him. "Those terms are satisfactory."

Booth chuckled and kissed her forehead softly. "So, what kind of nerd were you? A trekkie or a squint?"

"I don't know what that means."

Booth grinned. "Nine."

"Mmm..." Brennan moaned as Booth kissed her neck. "Booth, we're gonna miss our reservations."

"Don't care." Booth mumbled against her neck.

They were sitting on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, watching the sunset, well at least Brennan was _trying _to. But Booth was making it difficult for her by attaching his lips to her pulse point.

"We're gonna miss dinner." Brennan warned, at the same time tilting her neck to give him more access. No man had ever made her feel as wanted as he was now and she really didn't care so much about dinner. She just wanted him to take her home.

So she was deliriously happy when Booth suggested take-out. She turned to face him and smiled, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the street, lifting her arm for a cab.

As soon as one pulled up she practically threw Booth in before sliding in herself, barely getting her address out before Booth's lips were on hers and they were on their way.

As soon as they pulled up to her building, Booth threw a fifty at the driver, telling him to keep the change, and pulled Brennan out of the cab with him.

Laughing wildly, they raced up to her apartment, never letting go of the other's hands until they were at Brennan's door and she was struggling with her keys while Booth wrapped his arms around her, kissing the back of her neck. This caused Brennan's hands to shake and it took longer than it should have to get her door open, but as soon as it was, she and Booth ran inside. Booth pushed her up against one of her walls, and ground his hips into hers, while attacking her lips fiercely.

Brennan moaned into his kiss, tugging at his hair in pure ecstasy. "Mmmm..." she moaned, rubbing herself up against him as she felt his hands come around and squeeze her ass.

Booth pulled away suddenly. "We still haven't had our fourth date." he said.

"So?" Brennan asked, trying to kiss him again. Booth pulled away with a frown.

"My rule. Remember?"

Brennan moaned, dropping her head to his shoulder. "Can't you break the rule, just this once?"

Booth shook his head. "Not if I want this to mean anything. Come on, we'll order Thai." He said, leading her to the kitchen where he rifled through her drawers, looking for a menu.

Brennan watched him with an amused expression on her face. "You're not gonna find anything in there."

Booth turned to where she was standing, already holding a take-out menu and Booth lifted his eyebrows at her, while she dialed.

When she was finished ordering the food, she smiled at him. "Twenty minutes."

Booth grinned, walking up to her and kissing her passionately, before pulling away. "Nineteen now."

Brennan chuckled and walked into her living room, feeling a bit dizzy from the kiss but trying not to show it as she plopped down onto her couch, picking up a book from her coffee table and beginning to read.

Booth joined her a couple minutes later and picked up an Anthropology magazine, flipping through it.

They were completely silent for all of ten minutes before Booth threw the magazine over his shoulder. "Fuck it." He mumbled as he leaned toward Brennan, removing her book from her hand and attaching his lips to hers.

Brennan smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around Booth's neck. Booth moaned, kissing his way down her neck, making her moan, as his fingers began to swiftly unbutton her blouse. Once it was completely open, he was about to push it off her shoulders when there was a knock at the door. Booth groaned and rested his head against her breasts.

He lay there for a moment until the knocks became more and more insistent, and he had to get up. "Don't move an inch." He told her, getting up and pulling out his wallet as he walked over to answer the door.

He only opened the door wide enough to exchange the money for the food before closing it and turning back to Brennan, who'd shed her shirt entirely and was now casually setting up plates and utensils.

Booth grinned at her cool demeanor and walked over, placing the food on the table, before wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck. "Do you really want to eat right now?"

Brennan chuckled. "We may need our energy, because we're not coming out of that room until we are completely satisfied." she smiled at him, saucily.

Booth chuckled and kissed her once more. "Alrighty then." He said, sitting down and quickly filling his plate with food.

"You know if you eat that fast, you're either going to get cramps or gas. I don't find either particularly attractive." Brennan commented as Booth shoveled down his food.

Booth didn't respond but he visibly slowed down his eating. Brennan grinned at him and dug into her own food.

Soon they were both done with dinner and moving hurriedly towards the bedroom, clothes being removed as they went.

They didn't even make it to the bed and Booth was inside her before they knew what happened, and he was pounding inside her relentlessly as they raced towards orgasm. "Yes, oh my God!" Brennan exclaimed, scratching at his back, leaving marks all down it.

Booth grunted and captured her lips, thrusting his tongue in rhythm with his hips as Brennan moaned into his mouth.

It wasn't long before he could feel her fluttering around him, and her nails digging into his back and her teeth into his shoulder.

Booth grunted harshly as he emptied inside of her, and collapsed on top of her.

He rolled to her side, kissing her neck and pulling her against him. "God, that was..."

Brennan nodded. "Yeah. We're doing that again."

Booth chuckled. "Give me a few, okay?"

Brennan nodded. "Take as long as you want as long as the next time is just as good."

"If not better..." Booth cracked, kissing her lips softly.

**REVIEW!**


	18. Different Worlds

**New AU story!**

Different Worlds

"Pops?" six-year old Seeley Booth came up to his grandfather in his study. "Pops, there's a woman at the door."

Hank Booth looked up with a smile at the small boy. "Oh, really? Did she say what her name was?"

Seeley thought for a moment, then nodded. "Her name is Christine Brennan, I think." He looked unsure of himself but Hank nodded, standing up.

"Yes, I know her." He got up and briskly walked out of the office with Seeley trailing behind him. Walking through the vast halls of the mansion, Hank finally arrived at the foyer, where a relatively young peasant woman was standing, a tiny, blue-eyed girl at her feet.

"Miss Brennan?" Hank asked.

The woman nodded. "Yes. How do you do?" she asked.

Hank smiled politely. "Very good, thank you. What can I help you with today?"

"I've heard that you are looking for a nanny for your boys. Is this one of them?" the blue-eyed woman smiled at Seeley, who shyly smiled back, his brown eyes kind and welcoming.

Hank nodded and patted Seeley's head. "Yep, this is my older grandson, Seeley. Jared's upstairs, taking a nap."

"How old are your grandsons?" Christine asked.

"Well, Seeley here is six, and Jared is only two. How old is your little girl?" Hank said, smiling at the little brown-haired girl.

Christine smiled as the little girl tried to hide under her skirt. She pulled her into her arms, lovingly. "My little Temperance is four." then her face got serious. "Where are the boys' parents?"

Hank frowned. "I think we should speak in private." He motioned to the young children and Christine nodded.

She kneeled down next to her daughter. "Tempe, why don't you go play with Seeley for a moment while I talk to Mr. Booth here."

"But, Mommy..." Temperance protested in a small voice.

Christine gave her a stern glance. "Temperance, don't whine. Now, I'm telling you, go play with Seeley. Have some fun, okay? I'll be right back."

Temperance looked like she wanted to protest but one more stern look from her mouth shut her up effectively, and she shrugged, grabbing Seeley's hand and dragged him out of the room.

Seeley didn't even put up a fight as the smaller girl dragged him out.

Once they were out of the room, Temperance turned around, fixating on him with her large crystal blue eyes. She didn't say anything, just studied him for a moment, making Seeley feel very uncomfortable.

"Stop that." He said, frowning.

"Are you rich?" Tempe asked, revealing a missing front tooth.

Seeley lifted his eyebrows at her. "What kind of question is that?" he asked.

"A yes or no one..." Tempe answered, not quite understanding him.

Seeley shrugged. "I dunno." he said. "I think I am...are you?"

Tempe shook her head. "My Mommy says that there's more than one way of being rich. I'm rich because I'm loved. You're rich because you have a lot of money."

"Well, I also have a lotta love from my Pops and from my baby brother, Jared." Seeley protested.

"What about your parents?"

Seeley looked down. "They're not around anymore." he said.

Tempe frowned. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you sad. If it helps, my Daddy isn't around much, either."

Seeley looked up. "Really?" Tempe nodded. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Tempe responded.

Seeley smiled sadly. "I'm still sorry."

"Why?"

Seeley was never able to tell her why because at that moment Christine and Hank came in, both smiling.

"Why are you so happy, Pops?" Seeley asked.

"Because I found you a new nanny, Shrimp." Hank said.

"Really? Who?" Seeley said.

"My Mommy! Duh!" Tempe said.

Christine frowned. "Tempe, manners!" she scolded.

Tempe's shoulder's hunched. "Sorry, Mommy. But, wasn't I correct?"

"Yes, but that's no excuse, Sweetheart." Tempe nodded in understanding.

"Sorry, Seeley." she said.

Seeley shrugged. "That's okay."

Hank smiled. "Anyway, Miss Brennan is going to be your nanny and her and Temperance are going to be moving into the servant's quarters next to Jared's nursery. I want you to help them carry their stuff in when it arrives. Okay, Big Man?"

"But what about Cullen? And Goodman? They're the servants!" Seeley protested.

"Seeley Joseph Booth, you will do as you're told. Now, go on and show Miss Brennan and her daughter to their room. Okay?" Hank ordered.

Seeley nodded and reluctantly showed the new house guests to their room.

Fifteen years later...

"Booth! Wake up, already!" Temperance called from outside her Master's bedroom. "I have to make up the bed!"

There was a sound of something crashing and then a groan, before the door opened, Seeley Booth frowning at her. "Relax, Bren. It's only seven in the morning. What's the rush?"

"I have things to do today, Booth. I don't have time for this!" Brennan huffed stepping past him, trying as hard as possible to ignore the fact that he was half-naked.

She'd been working off her living since her mother had died two years previously and had found it quite frustrating to have to deal with the selfish and spoiled Seeley Booth, even though they had grown up as good friends.

"Chill, Bren. What's so important that you have to do today?" Booth asked, grinning at her backside, as she got to making his bed.

"Well, I have to go to the marketplace, prepare lunch because Angela is feeling sick once again, and I have to meet Sully at-"

"Sully?" Booth exclaimed. "You're meeting Sully? For what?"

"Well, if you'd just let me finish instead of interrupting me, you would know that, now wouldn't you?" Brennan snapped. "Like I was saying, I have to meet Sully in the marketplace because he wants to take me to dinner. I'll of course, prepare yours before I leave. But-"

She trailed off as she turned back to look at him, and found him only inches from her face, an intense look in his eye.

"Booth..." she gasped, before he placed a finger on her lips, effectively quieting her.

"You are _not_ going to dinner with Sully. He's a poor, hapless, shmuck, and you deserve better than him." Booth said in a low, warning voice.

Brennan straightened a bit, glaring at him. "Oh, really? And who would that be?" she challenged.

Booth smiled, evilly, before leaning in a bit more. Brennan didn't back down, and their lips were now mere centimeters from each other. "You really wanna know?"

Brennan smirked. "Yeah, actually, I do."

With that thought, Booth wrapped his arms around her thin waist and captured her lips with his. Brennan didn't exactly protest this sudden move as she wrapped her own arms around Booth's neck and reciprocated just as good as she got.

Booth smiled against her lips and began to rub circles on her back, tenderly, slowing down the kiss a bit. He brought one of his hands up to her hair to tangle in her auburn locks and heard her moan against his lips, before suddenly, pulling away.

"Booth." she gasped, pulling back from him, nearly falling onto the bed. "We can't. I'm your servant. And Sully..."

Booth cut her off with his lips again and Brennan lost herself for a moment, wrapping her arms around his neck once more and sighing into his lips.

When Booth let her go, he was smiling. "Do you honestly think that Sully can make you feel like that, Bren? Honestly?"

"Honestly? No. I don't. But, Booth, at least he's not some spoiled little Duke. At least he's in my league." Booth frowned at this and Brennan looked away, grabbing his dirty sheets and stepping around him. "I'm sorry, Booth. I have to go."

Booth turned around, watching her. "Brennan..." he protested, but she shut the door before he could get another word out.

Booth sighed and fell back onto his bed. "Just fantastic." He sighed.

TBC...(Possibly)

**If you like this then I will make a second part to it. REVIEW!**


	19. University part 3

**Update!**

University Part Three

Brennan moaned slightly into the kiss, feeling as if fireworks were going off all around her. As if she was floating away, leaving the ground.

Then it was over.

Booth pulled away quickly, breathing deeply with a dazed expression on his face. "Uh...I-I'm...I mean..."

Brennan chuckled and pulled his mouth back to hers. "Shut up." She said, against his lips and Booth chuckled into her mouth, wrapping his arms around her waist and reciprocating the kiss, passionately as they rolled about the picnic table.

That is, until Booth rolled so far back that he fell from the table, taking Brennan with him. They both fell to the ground, giggling like maniacs, Brennan burying her head in Booth's neck.

"I can't believe that just happened." she laughed.

Booth chuckled low in his throat. "Neither can I." He looked up at her, marveling at the way her eyes sparkled in the moonlight. "Hi..." he said, grinning goofily.

Brennan giggled. "Hey..." she leaned down to peck his lips, once more. "Do you want to get up and...go somewhere?"

Booth smiled and nodded. "Sure!" Blushing, he cleared his throat, "I mean...sure."

Brennan laughed and rolled off of him, getting to her feet and dusting off her dress, before helping him to his feet. "You okay?" she asked, as Booth winced when he stood up.

Booth nodded. "I'm fine...just a few problems with my back. But I've had them since I was a kid, so it's okay."

Brennan grimaced. "You know, you should really see a doctor about that. It must be causing you an awful lot of pain."

Booth shook his head. "Nothing a good back cracking won't fix." He twisted his back and groaned at a sickening cracking sound.

Brennan grimaced. "Are you okay?"

Booth nodded, a pained expression on his face. "Yeah...just pulled something. I'll be fine, though."

Brennan smirked. "Oh, really? I can fix that, ya know..."

Booth's face brightened and he squeezed her hand. "Seriously?" Brennan nodded and Booth made a little whooping sound before grabbing her and throwing her over his back, ignoring the pain that shot down this spine as she squeaked. "Let's get to it!"

Brennan chuckled. "You know, this really isn't helping your back!" she squeaked as he lugged her to the street to hail a cab.

"Don't care." Booth said, finally getting a cab and tossing her into the back seat, before giving the driver his address.

-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-,-

When they arrived at Booth's apartment, Brennan was surprised to see that he didn't have any room mates.

"My Pops figured I spent enough time sharing a room with Jared and those other jerks from my Freshman year, so he offered to pay the extra money for a single. It's nothin' fancy, but it's comfy." Booth explained when she brought this up.

"Right. You said you were a Sophomore before, right?" Booth nodded.

"Yep. Why?"

"Well, it's just...you don't look young enough to be a Sophomore." Booth frowned at her. "Not that you're _old_ or anything. But your facial features suggest a man in his mid to late twenties, but a Sophomore is usually about twenty years old."

Booth chuckled. "Oh, yeah, well I'm almost 25, actually."

Brennan's eyes widened. "Really? So, did you take a few years off or something?"

Booth nodded. "Something. I was actually deployed for a while."

"Deployed? Like, you fought in the war?" Booth nodded. "What did you do?" She walked up behind him as she said this, instructing him to relax his muscles.

"Sniper. I commanded my own division for a while, but I had to come home after...a couple incidents."

"Honorable or Dishonorable Discharge?" Brennan asked.

"Honorable." Booth answered, hoping she wouldn't ask any more than that.

She didn't. She just asked him to be 'at rest' while she brought her arms under and around his clavicles. "Now, just relax and let me do what I have to do. The pain in your back should be gone in a few seconds. Though, you may feel some discomfort."

Booth chuckled. "You sure you don't want to be a chiropractor, Dr. Bones?"

"Booth, please! I won't qualify for my Doctorate for _at least_ six more years and even then you know what I want to do."

Booth chuckled. "Relax, Bones. It's a joke."

"Oh...very funny." Brennan said, causing Booth to laugh harder. "Booth! Stop..." she whined. "The tremors are going to cause you more than just a little discomfort, you know."

Booth stopped immediately. "Okay, Bones. Do your magic."

Brennan smiled triumphantly and kissed the back of his neck in thanks before twisting his back in a circular motion and standing him straight up again, before punching a tender spot on his lower back, making him shout out in surprise as his back was realigned.

Brennan then stepped away, allowing Booth to test out his back. "Whoa!" Booth exclaimed, turning back to Brennan. "You fixed it! That's amazing!" He went to lift her but she pulled back.

"Lifting me right after I _just_ fixed your back is not advisable. It could make your condition much worse and possibly unfix-able." Brennan warned. Booth pouted, but then grinned as her leaned in and pressed his lips to hers in a passionate kiss that mirrored the one they'd shared previously, at the Pizza Place.

Brennan moaned and placed her arms around his neck, pressing her body to his, smiling as she felt his arms rubbing up and down her back. When they pulled back, his eyes were sparkling. "Thanks, Bones." he said, nuzzling her nose with his.

"Hmm...no problem." Brennan said, dazedly. "So...do you want to have sex?"

Booth's face fell as his eyes widened and he began sputtering wildly. "Uh...I mean...um...what?" he said, still not removing his arms from around her.

"Um...sex? You know, coitus, intercourse, consummation? When a man and a woman-"

"Yeah, I get it." Booth interrupted, blushing wildly. "I mean...I've done it before. But...never has somebody put it so bluntly before."

"Oh...does that mean you're not attracted to me?" Brennan asked, feeling a bit hurt as she pulled away.

Booth tightened his grip. "Of course not! I'm incredibly attracted to you!"

"Really?" Brennan asked, smiling shyly.

"Well, I wouldn't have asked you out on a date if I didn't, would I? Or kiss you, for that matter." Booth said.

Brennan scowled, thoughtfully. "I guess you have a point there." she said.

Booth chuckled and reached one hand up to smooth out her brow. "You know you're kind of cute when you do that."

"What? Scowl? It's not a very attractive look to me."

"It is on you."

"So does that mean we can have sex?" Brennan asked, bluntly.

Booth laughed this time at her blunt attitude. "Yes...but not tonight."

Brennan pouted. "Why not?"

Booth almost let our a girlish 'awww' at her expression but cleared his throat to keep it from escaping.

"You're even more adorable when you pout like that, you know." He commented.

"That didn't answer my question. Why can't we sleep together?"

"Because, I don't do one night stands...and especially not with virgins."

Brennan gaped at him. "How did you know?"

Booth chuckled. "Bones, I'm a Pysch Major. Profiling is sort of my thing. Plus, I sorta heard your friend's end of the conversation today while you were on the phone. She's not very quiet, you know."

Brennan scoffed. "Understatement. Angela can be quite loud, especially when she is excited about something."

Booth chuckled. "I have friends like that. Anyway, I would love to make love with you..."

"But...?"

"But, like I said, I don't do one night stands. And a one night stand with a virgin will just completely kill my self-esteem."

"How is a one night stand with a virgin any different?"

"Well, usually when a virgin wants a one night stand, it's because all she wants to do is lose her virginity. The guys she does it with means nothing to her. But, when a non-virgin has a one night stand..."

"She just wants sex." Brennan said, nodding in understanding.

"Yeah. Both sort of kill my self esteem, but the virgin thing is worse, because they're just using me as a means to an end. Then I never see them again."

"Well, you never see the non-virgins again, either, right?"

"Actually, non-virgins know what's up, so sometimes they come back for more fun. But that's just shallow stuff. It's good when I'm up for it. But I'm more of the relationship-type."

Brennan sighed, resting her cheek on his shoulder. "Just my luck."

Booth chuckled. "What? You don't want a relationship with me?"

"Well, I was sort of hoping to lose my virginity as soon as possible. I'm tired of being teased for it by my friends back home."

"Must not be very good friends if they're teasing you about something like this."

Brennan chuckled. "They mean well. But, they all lost theirs in High School while I was more...nerdy."

"You don't say." Booth teased.

"Shut up." Brennan said, pulling his lips down for a short, sweet, kiss. When she pulled back, they were both grinning like idiots. "So...a relationship? How many more dates constitutes that?"

"Four."

"How about two?"

"Three."

"Deal." Brennan said, fusing her mouth to his once more. This went on for several minutes before Booth pulled away, not missing the disappointed mewl that escaped their lips.

Booth chuckled, resting his forehead against hers. "I'll meet you tomorrow in Millenium Park? We can have another picnic."

Brennan smiled. "That sounds pleasant. Okay, see you then."

"Don't you want me to walk you home?" Booth asked.

"I actually only live a few blocks down." Brennan said, stepping away.

Booth grasped her hand. "I'll walk you. A young lady such as yourself shouldn't be wandering the Chicago streets alone this late at night."

Brennan scoffed. "Oh, please. I'm trained in three different types of martial arts. I don't think I have anything to worry about."

"Oh, really?" Booth said. "Three types? And you say you were a nerd in High School?" he teased her as they walked out of the apartment.

Brennan elbowed him in the rest. "I said I was the nerdy _type_. I didn't say I couldn't kick some ass."

Booth chuckled as he turned off the lights and shut the door behind them.

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	20. Different Worlds ch 2

**Continuation of Different Worlds! Enjoy!**

DW pt. 2

"Ange?" Brennan asked, as she knocked on her best friend, the cook's door.

"Come in, Sweetie." Angela responded.

Brennan opened the door, slowly, carrying a tray of chicken and peas for her friend. "I have some lunch for you if you're feeling better." she offered.

Angela smiled and nodded. "I'm feeling much better, Sweetie. Thanks." She sat up in her narrow bed, and made room for her best friend to sit.

"You're welcome." Brennan replied, sitting next to her on the bed and handing her one of the plates of food.

Angela took it, thankfully, and dug in, barely chewing before she swallowed and moaning blissfully. "Thweetie, thith ith deliciouth!" she said through a mouthful of chicken.

Brennan chuckled, taking a bite of her own food, a salad she'd made since she didn't eat meat. "Thank you, Ange. I'm glad you like it."

"I _love_ it, Sweetie!" Angela exclaimed, then she seemed to notice the uneasy way that Brennan was smiling. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Brennan's eyes widened in confusion. "What do you mean?" she asked.

"I mean, you have that sad puppy-dog look on your face." Angela said. "It's cute, don't get me wrong, but that look only shows up when you're _really_ stressed about something."

Brennan looked away. "I don't know what you're talking about, Angela." she said, taking another bite of her salad.

"Mmhmm, right..." Angela said, not believing her. "Sweetie, come _on. _I told you about Jack and about this _baby_." She whispered the word baby because nobody was supposed to know about her affair with the Duke's personal waiter. "You can _so _tell me what's bothering you. I promise I won't tell a single soul."

Brennan smirked at her. "I didn't think you would, Ange." she said, then sighed. "It's just...this is a little more intense than an affair with a waiter. I mean, you're both working-class, so there's really no big deal about it. There isn't even any rules against it. But, this..._this_ is a big problem."

"Well, Sweetie," Angela said, softly, "You know if you just told me about it, I could probably help you with it. Unless...you're not pregnant, too, are you?"

Brennan laughed and shook her head. "Not a possibility and you know it, Ange." She said.

Angela shrugged. "Hey, you never know. We haven't had much time to speak, what with me throwing up my guts and still humping Jack like a monkey." Brennan snorted at that. "Excuse my French. So, I don't really know if you've lost it yet."

Brennan laughed. "Well, I haven't. My virginity, anyway."

"What does that mean?" Angela asked.

Brennan sighed. "I think I may have lost my mind, Ange." Brennan said. "I mean, with the way I've been thinking today...it's quite possible that I've gone insane."

"What have you been thinking about, Bren?" Angela asked, frowning when she saw her friend squint at the nickname. Suddenly, she understood. "Is it Booth?" she asked, knowing that the only other person that called her Bren was Seeley Booth, and as far as Angela knew, he and Brennan got along just fine, better than fine, even. They've been friends for so long that he knew her almost as well as Angela did, and vice versa.

Brennan shook her head slightly, paused, then nodded. "Yes." she mumbled. "It's Booth."

Angela sighed and placed on arm around her friend, her opposite hand scooping up some peas and shoving them into her mouth. "What did he do this time, Sweetie?" she asked, because Seeley Booth was known for his pranks, even moreso for his ability to take them too far. Most of these pranks were played on Brennan, herself. "Another prank?"

Brennan shook her head. "No. No more pranks." she said.

"Then what, Sweetie" Come on, you know you can tell me anything."

Brennan looked at her, dead in the eye, hers so clear blue that they were almost transparent, and practically whimpered. "He kissed me."

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	21. New Guy

**Update! As part of 'Sextember' I'm bringing something else that comes with the start of this lovely month. I think you already know what it is. Anyways, enjoy!**

New Guy

Dr. Temperance Brennan was just finishing putting up all her personal accents in her tenth grade Anatomy Classroom when there was a knock at her door.

"Come in!" she yelled as she struggled to get one of her decorative skulls up on a high shelf.

The door opened behind her and she heard a warm voice ask, "Do you want any help?"

Brennan sighed and straightened up. "It seems that whether I want help or not, I can't get this up myself, so-"

She trailed off as she turned and saw the tall, broad-shouldered man, with chocolatey brown eyes and a winning smile, standing there. "Hey." He said, noticing her sudden blush and smiling inwardly to himself. "I'm Seeley Booth, the new gym teacher/football coach. Nice to meet you, Miss..."

Temperance shook her head. "Ahh..._Doctor_, actually. Dr. Temperance Brennan. I teach Anatomy and one English class as well."

"Anatomy _and_ English? Those seem to be two pretty different things." Booth laughed.

Brennan chuckled. "Yeah, well, I was the English teacher here for about three years, until the old one, Michael Stires, got fired for sleeping with a student."

"Oh yeah, I heard about that. What a creep. So, are you more interested in Science or English?"

"Science is my first love, because my father was a Science teacher and always enriched my brother and I at home, but I have a very broad vocabulary as well as a piqued interest in the books that I teach in class, so I settled for English when all the Science positions were taken. Until recently, that is. So, what piqued your interest in Physical Education."

Booth shrugged. "I dunno. I used to play Football and Basketball in High School and Gym was always my favorite class, so when Cam told me about the position opening up, I just sorta figured that it would be right for me. But, I gotta be honest, I have my eye on that Law class." He took the skull from Brennan and easily deposited it on the high shelf.

"Thanks. And you might have to wait a few years for that. Caroline's not set to retire for a while. Unless she wins the lottery, or so she tells me."

Booth chuckled. "Yeah, I've already met Caroline. I asked her if she'd be willing to split the classes with me and I swear she almost slapped me."

"Well, taking any of her classes would result in lower pay for her so I can understand her animosity towards you on this instance." Booth thought she might have been joking but the dead-serious expression on her face told him that she wasn't.

"Yeah, I know. But I was only kidding. I wouldn't take anybody's job from them, unless they were willing to give it up, or they were forced out of necessity or something."

Brennan nodded. "I concur." They were silent a moment. "So, how do you know Principal Saroyan?" she asked.

Booth smiled. "Oh, Cam and I go waaaay back. We met in High school and had a little romance. Lasted six months but we both decided it was going nowhere and we've been friends ever since. She was the one that called me about the job opening."

Brennan nodded. "Interesting. I also got this job through a friend. Angela Montenegro-Hodgins, the art teacher, told me about it. We went to college together. She told about the position and got me the interview with Dr. Saroyan."

"That was nice of her. Wait. Hodgins? Like the weird Biology teacher? They brother and sister or something?"

Brennan laughed and shook her head. "No, she's his wife. They're quite the odd couple, if you ask me, but they don't seem to care what other people think, so I just let them be. I'm the Godmother of their son, Michael." She took out a photo to show him.

Booth grinned at the little guy. "He's cute. But wait, I didn't think teachers were allowed to _date_ other teachers, let alone be married to each other."

Brennan smiled. "Oh, we're allowed." She said. "As long as it doesn't get in the way of our jobs, we're more than welcome to have romantic liaisons with each other."

Booth's heart leapt at the way she said _we, our_, and _each other_, and he smiled. "Oh, really? Then, you wouldn't want to have lunch with me today, would you?"

Brennan looked up, blue eyes wide and round as baseballs. "Are you asking me to have sex with you?" she asked bluntly.

Booth's smile immediately vanished and he began stuttering. "What? No! I-I was just asking if y-you wanted to get something to e-eat!" He took a deep breath. "So, do you want to?"

Brennan smiled. "Yes, I would, but can we get take-out? There's still a few things I want to do here in my office."

Booth grinned. "Sure. Come on, I'll drive." He placed his hand on Brennan's lower back and lead her out of the room, as Temperance tried to shake off the strange sensations that his hand brought on.

()()()()()()()()()()()()()

Half an hour later, they returned, laughing and carrying each a soda and a bag of food. They placed their food on a couple of desks and dropped into the seats next to each other.

"So, he vomited on her the second he sat on her lap?" Brennan was asking as Booth told her about his first girlfriend after his son, Parker, was born.

Booth nodded. "Yeah. I thought it was cute but she was so disgusted she practically launched Parker into my arms and walked out. Never saw her again."

Brennan laughed. "And you were okay with her leaving?"

"Well, yeah. If she couldn't accept my son for who _he_ was, even at less than a year old, she definitely wasn't worth it."

Brennan nodded, taking her wrap out of her Diner To-Go bag and taking a bite. "I agree, vehemently. Nobody should pretend to be something they're not just to make friends or impress people. I never have."

"Really?" Booth asked, taking a sloppy bite of his burger, at which Brennan wrinkled her nose. "Not even in High School?"

Brennan shook her head. "No. I always acted like myself, a strange girl with an interest in Science and dead things. Not many of my classmates took to me, but I really didn't care. If they didn't like me for who I was, then they could go fornicate with themselves."

Booth nearly choked on his burger at that, trying to hold back his laughter. "Bren, I think you mean 'fuck themselves'."

Brennan chuckled. "Yes, I know, but I didn't want to use such harsh language in a school."

Booth nodded, still laughing. "I get what you mean, but there's really no need to be polite. It's just the two of us here."

Brennan's eyes seemed to widen at this and grow darker. Then, suddenly she reached out, wrapped her arm around Booth's neck and brought his lips down on hers, kissing him passionately and causing Booth complete and utter surprise.

The surprise only lasted a few moments before his lips began to move in synch with hers, his burger dropping, forgotten, back into the take out container as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her closer. Brennan moaned into his mouth as she felt his tongue reach out and trace her bottom lip, begging for entrance, which she quickly allowed.

Soon, the need for air became apparent and they had to pull away, breathing deeply as they rested their foreheads against each other.

Booth was the first to speak. "What...was that?" he asked, between breaths.

"I've been...wanting to do that...since I first saw you...But I thought it rude...so I refrained. That is...until you said...that we didn't have to be polite...to each other." She took a particularly long breath. "I find I'd very much like to continue now."

Booth nodded and lowered his head to rain kisses down her jawline to her neck, where he latched on to her pulse point and began licking and sucking and nipping. Brennan moaned and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him closer to her and running her hand through his spiky brown hair, moaning louder as one of Booth's hands came up to cup her breast.

Without a second thought, Brennan pushed him away. Booth looked hurt and confused for a second until he saw that Brennan was removing her shirt, revealing a tantalizing royal blue bra that perfectly matched the shade of her darkened eyes, causing Booth's eyes to darken even further into almost coal black orbs and launch himself back at her, allowing her to discard his own shirt as he rained tiny, sucking kisses all over her chest as she moaned and squirmed under his lips. "Booth..." she moaned, as Booth's sneaky hands came around to unhook her bra. He pulled away momentarily to let the bra fall down and eyed her full, perky breasts hungrily, before latching onto one as she nearly screamed in ecstasy, pulling at his hair with on hand and holding on to his muscular shoulder with another.

As he switched breasts, Brennan leaned forward and sunk her teeth into his shoulder, biting down to keep from calling out and alerting anybody from the activities that were taking place in the classroom, though she knew many of the other faculty members had gone home, since class didn't start until the next day. But there was always the chance that somebody would walk by and hear what they were doing, or maybe even walk in on them.

Brennan suddenly unlatched from his shoulder and pushed him away again, standing up abruptly and walking over to the door. She locked it, brought the blinds all the way down and turned off the lights, so that anybody who walked by would think that she'd gone home and wasn't screwing around with the gym teacher in her room.

When she turned back around, Booth was standing a mere two feet away from her. Trying to hide her surprise at finding him so close, she gave him a stern look. "Lose the pants." She said, hands on her hips. "NOW."

Seeley grinned cockily at her. "Only if you do me the same pleasure, professor."

Brennan smiled saucily at him and began to unbutton her jeans, pushing them down, seductively, over her hips and kicking off her flats as she discarded the jeans. "Now you." She said, standing there, proudly, as if she weren't almost completely naked.

Booth smiled at her, his eyes boring into her figure as he slowly unzipped his jeans and pulled them down his legs, revealing his prominent erection tenting his silly patterned boxers and a pair of crazy red-and-white striped socks. Brennan chuckled slightly at the socks, but then her mouth fell open at the size of his erection and she felt herself drool at the sight.

"Oh my..." she said, aloud, "That is..._definitely_ not the average size of most...wow..."

Booth chuckled. "Is that a good thing?" he asked.

Brennan nodded dumbly and stepped forward, far enough that she could reach out with her hand and stroke it. Booth moaned at the feeling and grasped her wrist to stop her. "If you keep that up then this is going to be over faster than either of us would like."

Brennan nodded and reached up to kiss him softly, ghosting her fingers over his erection, before snaking her fingers inter his waistband and pulling the boxers down, effectively releasing said erection. Brennan opened her eyes for a moment just to examine the proud cock, before guiding Booth's hands to the waistband of her panties and allowing him to pull them down for himself.

When they both completely nude, Booth lead Brennan over to her desk, which was pushed up against the blackboard, as she had not yet moved it, and sat her down on it, kneeling down to put his face between her legs and nip at her inner thighs. Brennan moaned as he did so and even louder as he plunged a finger into her wet heat, checking her readiness.

"Good God, you're wet." He moaned, as he took a couple swipes at her with his tongues, making sure to flick it over her clit a few times for good measure, causing Brennan to jerk her hips up towards his mouth.

"Booth...Need you inside me...NOW." she whimpered, pulling weakly at his hair.

Booth smiled and with one more lick to her clit, he began to make his way up her body, stopping to lazily suck each of her breasts into his mouth, before finally meeting her mouth with his and plunging deep inside of her.

They both moaned loudly into each other's mouths at the connection.

Brennan dug her nails into the soft skin of Booth's ass, urging him to move inside of her. Booth did so and groaned as her tight pussy clenched around him. "God, Bones, you're so tight!" he growled into her neck.

"Bones?" she asked, as she gasped from the hard thrusts.

"I'll explain later." Booth promised as he picked up speed, latching onto her nipple and biting down in sync with his thrusts, causing Brennan to call out his name.

Soon all that could be heard were the two bodies slapping together in a frenzy as both moved towards release. That is, until Brennan called out for him to stop.

Begrudgingly, Booth stopped, buried deep inside of her wet heat. "Why?" he practically whined.

Brennan chuckled and instructed him to step back, which he did, reluctantly.

When he was far enough back, Brennan stood up on shaky feet and turned around, leaning over the oak desk. "Okay. Go ahead." She said. "Fuck me."

At her harsh words, Booth jumped right on it, entering her roughly and rocking into her even faster than before, one hand coming up to cup her breast and the other reaching down to stroke her clit in time with his thrusts. Brennan moaned and groaned as Booth fucked her hard and fast, pushing on the wall for leverage with one hand and reaching back with her opposite arm to hold onto his ass, urging him to go faster with her touch. "Harder." She moaned. "Fuck me faster. Fuck me, Booth. Please, fuck me harder."

Booth grew harder at her words and the feel of her hand on his ass and began to piston into her harder and faster than before, rubbing her clit furiously until he could feel her shaking and clenching him in her release. He brought her down from her orgasm softly, before he began rocking into her faster and impossibly hard, trying to reach his own release, and in turn bringing her to yet another staggering release.

When he finally emptied himself deep inside of her, he felt his legs turn to jelly and he lowered them both safely to the ground in a messy heap of arms and legs, kissing her lips softly and running his fingers through her hair as they both fought to catch their breath.

Booth was the first to catch him breath. "Wow," he said, "that was..."

"Unexpected." Brennan finished for him, nodding.

"Well, not so much. I just thought that we'd make it to at least one of our apartments or something."

Brennan chuckled. "Well, truthfully, I actually did see us doing something like that here, just not today." They were silent another moment, then, "So, why _did_ you call me Bones?"

Booth chuckled. "Because you're an anatomy teacher. You study the body and everything in it, including bones. I figured it'd be better than calling you Stomach or Liver."

"Why call me anything other than my name?"

"Because someone like you, I could tell you were special, so you deserve a special nickname."

Silence. "Do you use that line on all your conquests?"

"Nope. I've never given anybody a nickname, thus far. You're my first."

"Could've fooled me." Brennan dead-panned.

Booth chuckled. "Good one, Bones."

More silence. "Booth?"

"Mmhmm?"

"Since you gave me a nickname, would it be appropriate if I gave you one?"

"If you really wanted to, Bones. What did you have in mind?"

"Never mind. It's nothing that I could call you during school anyway."

Silence. "What is it?"

Brennan grinned and leaned up to whisper in his ear. Booth blushed slightly as a cocky grin came over his features. "Oh, you're dirty." He said, chuckling, as he turned their bodies so he was laying on top of her, and kissed her neck fervently. "Such a dirty little Bones."

Brennan giggled and moaned as they started all over again.

**REVIEW!**


	22. Chapter 22

**New story!**

Bus Driver

The first day Temperance Brennan took the public bus in Chicago to her college at Northwestern University, there was nothing very extraordinary about it.

She was the first stop on the route, since she lived with her roommate/best friend, Angela, in an apartment on the other side of the city, instead of paying for the insanely expensive school dorms.

She barely glanced at the balding bus driver, who had to squint through his thick turtle shell glasses to see the streets he was driving on, going more slowly at each turn to make sure he didn't accidentally hit anybody. So, by the time they reached Brennan's stop, which was the last on the route, she was nearly late for her first class.

And the ride home was no better. The driver usually raced through red lights and honked on anybody that waiting a second too long at a light. And when she got home after the trip, she was shaking from the crazy ride.

This went on for at least two weeks, until one morning she got on the bus and was surprised to see a much younger man driving. He grinned at her. "Good morning." He greeted, nodding to her.

Noticing the man's good looks more than she'd like to admit, Brennan smiled at him, and took her regular seat in the front of the bus, only to find that her seat was occupied by a small blonde boy, who smiled at her when she approached.

"Hi!" he said. "I'm Parker! What's your name?"

Brennan stared at him blankly for a moment, before stating her name. "My name is Temperance," she said. "But everybody calls me by my last name, Brennan."

Parker smiled, showcasing a one-of-a-kind smile (though, somewhat familiar) and a mouthful of very tiny teeth.

Brennan estimated his age at around three or four.

"Where are your parents, Parker?" Brennan asked, wondering if another stop had been added to the route, in addition to the new driver.

Parker pointed up front. "My Daddy drives the bus." He said.

Brennan's eyebrows raised as she looked towards the front of the bus at the man. He couldn't be more than five years older than her. Yet he had this small child. Maybe he was older than he seemed.

"And your mother?" she asked, turning back to him.

Parker shrugged and looked away, an action which greatly confused Brennan.

"Hey," she heard from the front. She turned to the bus driver, who was trying to get her attention. "Come here." He said.

Brennan held up a finger and turned back to Parker. "Can you watch my book bag for me?" she asked. "I don't want anybody stealing it."

Parker nodded, looking slightly more excited than before. "Sure!" He said, grabbing the backpack that Brennan handed to him.

Brennan chuckled as he took the bag in the lap, almost the same size and weight as the over-packed bag. He had a very serious look on his face that said 'Don't mess with me or this bag or you will get it.'

Brennan smiled at the cute little boy and turned to the front, passing by new passengers as she stepped up to talk to the driver.

"You wanted to talk?" she asked.

The man nodded. "Yeah." He said, lowly. "My name is Seeley. Seeley Booth. Just call me Booth, though." He said, sticking out one hand.

Brennan shook it. "Temperance Brennan. Just call me Brennan."

"Hey, Brennan. Nice to meet you." Booth smiled softly at her.

Brennan smiled back, somewhat flirtatiously. "Likewise. So, what did you want to talk about?"

Booth sighed. "Parker's mom."

"What about her?" Brennan asked.

He sighed again. "She's not...in the picture."

"By choice or death?" Brennan asked, bluntly.

Booth sighed, and looked towards the road, pointedly.

Brennan nodded. "I understand. I won't mention her. Is it okay that I sit with him though?"

Booth nodded. "Of course. He seems to like you, and this way he won't be lonely while I'm working. So, knock yourself out. Just be warned that he asks a _lot _of questions."

"That's very good. That implies that he has a very inquisitive mind and will probably be very intelligent one day."

Booth grinned. "He _is_ pretty smart for a four year old." Booth said. "Sometimes, I wonder if he's really my kid."

"Oh, he is." Brennan assured.

"Why do you say that?" Booth asked.

"He has your eyes, your bone structure and your smile." She blushed as she murmured the last part.

Booth grinned. "Ah, the Booth patented charm smile. That's how I know. He's got that same cocky grin that my brother and I share."

Brennan rolled her eyes. "Well, his is anything but cocky, though yours may be considered so." She said, walking back to her seat.

Booth, stopped at a red light, watched her retreating form appreciatively. She took a seat next to Parker and that oh-so-serious expression on his face disintegrated into a large smile as she took her bag back and thanked him for protecting it.

Booth laughed as his little boy beamed proudly at the praise, before turning back to the road and continuing on his way.

When Brennan exited the bus, she made sure to say good bye to both Booth boys, thinking that that was probably the last time she'd see them.

But when she boarded the bus later that evening, she was surprised to see them again.

"Brennan!" Parker exclaimed as she boarded the bus. He ran to her and took her bag, dragging it to his seat and saving one next to himself.

"What are you doing here?" Brennan asked. "I thought your shift might be over."

Booth shook his head. "Nope. I've got double shifts now. They fired the two other guys that had this route and it was up for grabs so I took it. You'll be seeing a lot of me and Parks. At least until he starts Preschool. Then you'll just be seeing a lotta me." He grinned cockily at her.

Brennan rolled her eyes. "I can't tell if you're flirting with me or just being arrogant."

"Why can't it be both?" Booth joked.

Brennan chuckled and walked towards the back where Parker sat, awaiting her arrival.

Booth again watched her go to his son and sit down to listen about how his day went.

He smiled. He had a feeling that no matter how much he saw her in the future, he didn't mind at all.

**POSSIBLE tbh...**


	23. Cave

**NEW STORY inspired by this other story I read. Enjoy!**

Cave

Boo was probably the strongest warrior in his entire clan, most likely due to the fact that he was defending himself from his own father since he was merely a toddler, and rarely winning. But, despite his strength and rough exterior, inside he was as soft-hearted as a toddler. He was kind to the females in his tribe and even helped them occasionally with their children, who adored his presence more than their own fathers'.

His own child, Park, regaled his father as the strongest and most successful hunter in the land, often begging to join him in their travels. Fearing for his only son's safety and well-being, Boo always denied Park's requests, promising him that when he was older he would be able to join them.

Park accepted this and often spent time with his mother while his father was off hunting.

()()()()()()()()()

Bren was the most independent of all the females in her tribe. She could fight like no other female could and was the most strategic observer. Though she lacked the social abilities of her peers, she was one of the most sought after females in the tribe, and was often bugged by her own father to pick a mate.

She of course, ignored him, not caring to have children until was wanted to, even though her father warned her of her increasing age. Most in their tribe died by the time they were in their late twenties, sometimes sooner.

Bren was sixteen, already half of her life gone by while her peers, like her friend Angela, already had babies of their own. Angela already had three and was about to have a fourth, though she was less than a year older than Bren.

But Bren was unwilling to have children until she had found the perfect mate. She already had one in mind.

Boo was the most handsomely formed man Bren had ever seen. His shoulders were wide, so wide, and his face was kinder than most men. He was the kind of man to help the women in any way he could, not expecting anything in return. And, to top it all off, he was muscular and his…ahem, appendage was delightfully large. Large enough to father a few dozen children at least, though she didn't wish to have that many. And he was one of the few men taller than she and could probably defeat her in battle.

Also, she'd seen the way he looked at her as well, and even though he had already mated, it was clear that his relationship with the blonde female was not monogamous. They only had one child together and no more. She had moved on to other men, and he continued to teach the child even though they lived in separate caves.

And the way he looked at her told her that she was on his mind about as often as he was on hers. His brown eyes visibly darkened whenever he looked at her. She suspected her own eyes to do the same.

But though they had always watched each other, neither had so much as grunted in the other's direction.

Until one day when Temperance was out looking for food for her ailing father. Max was the chief of their tribe, being the oldest male at age thirty-five. He only fathered two children; Bren and her older brother, Rus. Bren was the cause of her mother's death and another reason why she was so reluctant to have children.

Now Max was beginning to get weak with old age and bad health. Bren knew of flowers that could be cooked into meat to strengthen her father, but also knew that she would have to go out into a large cave in order to find them, because they liked the dark.

She also hoped to swipe some meat from a neighbor in order to get her father the nutrition he needed sooner, rather than later.

But as she stepped into the cave, torch in hand, she was more than surprised to see a figure hulking in the back, seemingly tending to the very flowers that she was after.

Unafraid, she came forward, shining her torch toward the figure, who turned around quickly at the sign of light.

Bren gasped when she saw Boo stooped there, tending to the flowers and even pulling a few into a small basket.

They just stared at each other for a heartbeat or two before Boo stood, forgetting the flowers on the floor, and puffing out his chest, his loin cloth tight against a very prominent erection, his eyes visibly darkening even in the dim lighting.

Bren dropped the torch to the ground, letting it roll slowly away, until all she could see was Boo's shadow, and all he could see was her busty silhouette, and the shadow of her darkened blue eyes.

Suddenly, after another heartbeat of just watching each other, Bren pounced on Boo, knocking him to the ground as her lips fused to his in a frenzy. Boo gratefully reciprocated. Running his hands through her hair, he shoved his tongue through her more than willing lips and fought her fore control, as they rolled from side to side.

When they broke for much needed oxygen, Boo was quick to rid her of her top, which barely covered her chest and stayed on by a tie on the back of her neck. He broke the tie quickly and watched in amazement as her full, pert breasts were revealed to him, and he quickly took them in his mouth, unable to restrain himself.

Bren moaned and held his head still as he laved her breasts, before bringing his mouth back to hers and ridding him of his loin cloth, while he did he same to her.

Boo wasted absolutely no time in sticking his fingers into her opening, causing Bren to dig her nails into his arms, hard enough to draw blood.

She reached down and forcibly removed his hand, replacing it with his cock, and thrusting her hips upward, allowing half of it to enter her, and he thrust his hips back in reaction, allowing himself to be fully engulfed by her wet heat.

Both moaned in indescribable pleasure as their hips began to move in frenzied syncopation.

Soon, sooner than she'd ever experienced, Bren was falling over the edge of orgasm and scratching up Boo's back as she fell.

Boo grunted as he slowed the pace slightly, bringing her down gently before pistoning wildly into her, attempting to bring over the edge again as well as himself this time. Bren screamed and held on tight as she was brought back to the edge, her hips thrusting up wildly and out of her control.

Boo brought her to another staggering orgasm just before his own consumed him and his hips slowed down on his own accord as he spurted his hot seed into her, biting down on her neck in order to keep himself from passing out, leaving a small red mark there. He licked it in order to soothe it to a soft pink color.

Bren smiled sated as Boo emptied himself into her. She had, of course, consummated with other mates, but they usually didn't let her finish. But Boo…Boo had given her two staggering orgasms in their first time. She definitely had to keep him as her mate. She felt possessive over him right now and just had to mark him as hers. Without thinking, she bit down onto his shoulder, moaning as he thrust once in reaction, his softened member already getting hard once more.

"Mine." she whispered into his ear.

Boo smiled and began to slowly thrust into her, nursing his softened member back to life in order to fully please his mate once more.

**Hope that was hot enough to gain some new REVIEWS!**


	24. DW ch 3

**PART THREE!**

Different Worlds Part Three

Brennan stood outside of Booth's door, debating whether or not she should just go ahead and knock already.

"I might as well." She thought to herself. "I've spent the whole day avoiding him and I even left Sully to be here. Now, why can't I just open up that damn door?" She'd been standing there for the last ten minutes fighting with herself. Finally, she raised one fist, only to hear a very unmanly giggle on the other side of the door.

She paused, her ears straining to see if maybe she'd imagined the woman's laughter.

"Oh, Seeley." Brennan's eyes widened in shock, and her heart fell.

She felt her eyes well up with tears, then suddenly, her mood shifted and her eyes narrowed at that door. That same, stupid wooden door that she had polished meticulously like every single damn door in that wing every single Tuesday since she turned fifteen. Then, suddenly and without any prior thought, she reached out and took hold of the knob, attempting to turn it but finding the door locked.

Again, without thought she began to bang on the door with both hands. "Seeley!" She shouted through the door. "Seeley open up!"

She kept on shouting and banging on the door for as long as it took for somebody to answer it.

She nearly knocked out the young blonde woman who'd opened the door. Thankfully, the little slut ducked her blow, causing Brennan to trip forward.

She immediately regained her balance and glared past the woman to where Booth was sitting up on the end of the bed, eyes cloudy from confusion, and clothes rumpled.

"Bren? What's wrong?" he asked, slightly annoyed at her sudden presence and bad timing.

"Seeley." she growled. "We have to talk." She eyed the blonde. "In private."

Booth glared at her. "Anything you have to say to me, you can say in front of Hannah." he said, motioning towards the dumbfounded blonde, who smiled weakly.

"You sure about that?" Brennan asked. Booth nodded. "Okay, then…I'm pregnant. It's yours." Brennan lied, keeping a straight face, even as the blonde's fell.

"Oh my God!" Hannah gasped. "I'm so sorry! I didn't know…I'll just go." She pulled her shirt from one of the chairs in the room and glared at Booth. "You should be ashamed of yourself." She hissed, before turning towards the door.

"Hannah, wait!" Booth called.

Hannah glared back at him. "You wish!" she turned to Brennan. "Congratulations." She said. "and good luck with _him_." She sent a scathing look at Booth, who gaped after her as she stomped out of the room.

Brennan smirked and closed the door after her, turning back to Booth, who was now seething with anger. "What the fuck was that about?" he boomed.

Brennan shrugged. "Just thought it was time that I got you back for all the times you pranked me." she said. "I really didn't think I was _that_ good at acting. Or maybe your little friend has less brains than usual, though I highly doubt it because then she would probably be unable to function."

Booth's glare intensified as he stood up and moved toward her. "That was no fucking prank." he growled. "No way in hell was that a prank. You were _jealous_."

Brennan scoffed. "Jealous of what? I already told you, Booth; I want nothing-"

She was cut off by Booth's lips on hers as his hands grabbed her hips, grinding them into his. Brennan forgot herself for a moment and moaned into the kiss as her arms wrapped around his neck.

But then her eyes snapped open and she pushed away from him. "What are you doing?" she asked, eyes narrow, but foggy.

Booth just smiled and stepped forward, kissing her jaw and rubbing her waist, sensually, with his hands. Brennan moaned and Booth smiled, pulling away. "Please, Bren," he said, "just give me a chance here. I'll make you feel great."

Brennan eyed him wearily. Despite the fact that his hands were now confidently resting on her ass, his eyes were pleading with her to give this, _them_ a chance.

And she felt powerless to resist. "Fine." She said. "But, I feel I must warn you, Angela and I have planned the perfect murder." At his concerned and fearful look, she clarified, "We would like to publish it as a book. But we _will_ most definitely use it-at least she will- if need be. And Angela will most likely think that her friend's pain warrants such a thing to be done. Understood?"

Booth nodded. "Can I kiss you now?"

Brennan smiled and nodded, leaning into him and kissing him passionately. When she pulled back, she felt the need to warn him of one more thing. "Your grandfather will not like this."

Booth smiled at her, nipping at her neck. "What Pops doesn't know won't hurt him."

This statement alone was enough to paralyze Brennan's heart once more but as soon as his lips touched hers, her heart melted and she wrapped herself around him, once more.

**Sorry, not smut until I get AT LEAST fifteen reviews!**


	25. Bus Driver 2

**Sequel to Bus Driver! Enjoy!**

Bus Driver 2

Every single day for the next month went like clockwork. Brennan would be the first he picked up in the morning and the last he drop off. Same in the evening. And every single time she got off, she would smile at him, say hello, pay her fare, and walk back to sit with Parker. Then, at night, she would say goodbye to Parker (usually with a hug) and then to Booth, who'd give her the 'Booth' grin before she departed.

On Halloween, she giggled when he showed up wearing a tux and sunglasses, grinning at her with that oh-so-charming smile. And she almost let out a very girly 'Awww' when she saw that Parker had dressed up as a little green dinosaur and roared a hello when she sat down next to him. The conversation that day was led mostly by her and consisted of roars and other dino-like noises on his end. Finally, when it came to the last stop and she had to disembark, she growled once for goodbye (feeling very foolish as she did so) and walked towards the front to say good bye to Booth.

Booth surprised her then when he took her hand and refused to let her go. "Bones, stay back a second?"

Brennan's eyes widened as she stood in place, moving back to allow others to go past her. "Bones is not my name."

Booth chuckled. "Yeah, I know. It's just a nickname. I heard Parker talking about all the bones you taught him about and I just…you know what? Never mind that. I have a question to ask you."

Brennan felt her heart rate speed up. "What?"

"Would you like to go trick or treating later tonight?" Booth asked, blushing furiously as he did so.

Brennan grinned. "Aren't we a bit old to be trick or treating?"

Booth scoffed. "Hell no, Bones! You're never too old for trick or treat!" Brennan giggled and Booth gave her a soft, nervous smile. "So, what do ya say, Bones? Trick or treat?"

Brennan sighed. "I don't have a costume…"

Booth's face lit up. "That's okay! I know a great store you can get one for a good price. It's right down the street here." He took out a pen and wrote down the name and address of the costume shop on her hand. "I'll pick you up right same time as always. Kay?"

Brennan grinned, looking down at the chicken scratch on her hands. "That is if your costume store doesn't make me later than usual."

Booth grinned. "I'll wait up."

Something in his voice or in his eyes made Brennan's heart beat even faster and she looked down at their still intertwined hands, noticing for the first time that he was stroking her hand with his thumb. Brennan felt tingles immediately run up her arm that startled her and caused her to pull her hand away. "O-Okay." she stammered. "I'll s-see you here after school. Bye." She tripped down the stairs and after assuring him that she was alright, she turned and walked towards the college, cursing her social awkwardness.

()()()()()()

The rest of the trip to the bus lot passed in a haze for Booth.

Brennan had seemed pretty nervous when he asked her to go trick or treating with him. Did she think he was asking her out on a date?

Well, he sort of was. Even though Parker would be there, this would be the first time that they spent any time together outside of the bus.

Maybe she felt it was a little odd for the bus driver to be asking her to go out with him. But she spent more time with his kid in one month than his mother did in an entire year.

Booth sighed, trying not to think of Rebecca, especially since Parker was sitting right behind him and instantly knew when something was bothering him.

But what could be so nerve-wracking for Brennan about going trick or treating with him and his son? Did she not like him? Because it sure didn't seem that way when she'd flirted with him nearly every morning since they'd met. Or maybe she was just being nice.

Booth couldn't tell. But she must have liked him somewhat if she'd said yes to going trick or treating with him.

Booth took a deep breath and tried to clear his head. He'd figure this all out later. Right now he just had to worry about getting his son to preschool and taking his shift break before picking up his son (and dinner from Sid's) and getting back to his shift. Thankfully Brennan's was the last route that he had to do.

()()()()()

Brennan sighed as she waited for her bus to arrive. The professor had allowed most of the students with children to leave early today so they could take them trick or treating and Brennan had taken this opportunity to fib and had showed the professor the picture of Parker that he'd given her (so he'd 'always be there for her' as he'd said). The picture was of a baby Parker, bald and brown-eyed, sitting in Booth's lap, clutching a teddy bear and laughing at the camera. Booth was looking down at the boy with a loving, fatherly expression on his face that made Brennan ache for her own father. The teacher had simply smiled at the picture and excused her from the class, complimenting her on her gorgeous husband and adorable baby boy.

Brennan thanked her and walked out of the classroom, blushing furiously and hoping nobody would notice as she made her way down the hill to the costume store that Booth had mentioned.

As she stepped inside, Brennan was assaulted with the sight of a hundred mannequins wearing a hundred different scary and amusing costumes, only half of them looking like something Brennan might like to wear. She walked towards that half and began her search, keeping one eye on the time.

Nearly an hour later she still hadn't found anything and was growing weary of the time. She groaned loudly and then shrieked when she was grabbed by a pair of hairy hands.

She turned to see a young woman, about two or three years younger than herself, standing there with an amused expression on her face. "Sorry, girl. Didn't mean to scare you that bad. Is there anything I can help you with today?"

Brennan took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. "Yes, actually. Do you think you could help me find a costume? I'm going trick or treating with my…_friend_ and his young son tonight so I need something appropriate to wear, but all these costumes are quite revealing."

The girl scoffed. "I know, right? Girls use this holiday as an excuse to look slutty without the judgment. It's disgusting. So," she said, turning to Brennan. "What exactly were you thinking?"

Brennan shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Well…what's he being?"

"A secret agent, I think. He was wearing a tux and sunglasses."

"Hmm…Well, nothing really goes with secret agent. What's your major?"

"Anthropology."

"That's history, right?" Temperance nodded. "Okay, so what about something that relates to history, like Greek Myths?"

"Do you have anything relating to Greek myths in this store?"

"Oh, sure! We have a few Greek Goddess costumes. You could be Athena or that really pretty one…Aphro-something."

"Aphrodite?"

"That's the one! Come on!" The girl pulled Brennan in the direction of the dressing rooms, while Brennan followed obediently behind her.

Now, Brennan stood there, the dress she'd chosen hidden beneath her trench coat and her hair down from it's usual ponytail so that it fell in waves around her shoulders. The young woman had also been nice enough to give her a discount on costume make up and had helped her apply it, so now she had her street clothes in a bag from the store and was completely ready for trick or treating with the Booths.

Brennan's heart leapt when she saw the bus coming up the hill, and she could just make out Booth's smile as he spotted her at the same exact time. When he pulled up to let her in, Brennan smiled at him in hello and he let out a low whistle.

"Wow, Bones…you look…hey, what are ya supposed to be?" he asked.

Brennan grinned and opened her trench coat, revealing the light purple 'Goddess' dress that she'd chosen. The dress went the same length as her trench coat, stopping just above her knees and hugged all her curves while still being appropriately conservative. Booth's eyes widened further as his eyes skimmed her outfit before going straight back to her eyes. "Nice costume, Bones." he said, his voice a pitch higher than normal.

Brennan smiled. "Thank you, Booth." She paid her fare and walked back to sit with Parker, who also complimented her on her costume. Brennan thanked him and looked towards the front of the bus, at Booth, smiling as she noticed the dumbstruck expression he still wore.

Suddenly, she didn't feel so nervous about trick or treating.

**REVIEW if you want MORE!**


	26. Bus driver 3

**Bus Driver PART THREE! Enjoy!**

**Bus Driver (P. 3)**

When Booth came to Brennan's stop, he stopped and waited for her to come to the front of the bus. When she did, he smiled up at her.

"Go put your bag down and get a pillowcase. I'll wait right here." he told her.

She smiled at him. "You sure?" she asked. "I could wait while you go return to bus to the depot and come pick me up over here."

Booth smiled. "I'm sure." He said. "It's much quicker this way. Now go. We'll be right here when you come out."

Brennan smiled at him once more before hopping off the bus and making her way quickly to her apartment, where Angela sat on the couch, her sketch pad in her hands as she drew out the face of a man with curly hair and a beard. When Brennan entered, Angela looked up and smiled.

"Hey, Sweetie! What's up? I thought you were on a date with that hot bus driver."

"I'm leaving now. I just came back to drop off my stuff. He's waiting outside." Brennan answered.

Angela's eyes lit up as she jumped off the couch and raced to the window, looking out to where Booth leaned against the bus, allowing Parker to run around and stretch his legs. "Wow, he's hot!" Angela said, with a low whistle.

Brennan chuckled. "Yes, he's very attractive, but he's also much older than I am, Ange. That's his _son_, Parker."

Angela's eyes widened. "The same little boy you sit with every day? That's his _son?_ Jesus!" she looked back out at the little blonde boy running around. "He's what? Four? Five?"

"He's four. And he's _very _bright for his age." Brennan said, looking very proud as she eyed the little boy. Angela smiled.

"Where's his mother?"

"I don't know. They don't like to talk about her. I suspect she might have left him."

Angela nodded. "I see. So how much older is this guy? Eight years? Ten?"

"Five." Brennan said, blushing a bit as she realized that maybe they weren't so far apart in age.

"He's only twenty-three?" Angela asked. "Well that's not so bad. He must've had Parker right out of High School."

Brennan nodded. She knew that for a fact. Not that Booth had told her but she'd deduced by Parker's age and when Booth would've graduated that Parker might've been conceived the Summer following Booth's graduation.

For some reason the thought of him with another woman made Brennan's heart lurch.

She turned away from the window and went to a mirror in the far corner of the room to fix her hair, tucking a few loose strands behind her ears.

Angela followed, smiling as if she'd just recently realized what her friend was wearing. "Whoa, Sweetie! You look hot! Where 'd you get that costume? You _definitely _weren't wearing _that_ this morning?"

Brennan chuckled. "How would you know, Ange? You were a bit wrapped up with your science tutor the last time I saw you."

Angela looked shock. "What? That's a lie!"

Brennan chuckled and picked up Angela's sketchbook. "Oh, _really?_" She said, showing her friend the unfinished sketch of the man, who was clearly naked under a thin sheet outlined on the page.

Angela blushed and snatched the book out of her friend's hand. "He's buff, okay? Now, don't you have a date waiting for you or something?"

Brennan chuckled. "I need a pillowcase." She started walking towards Angela's room. "Do you have one I can borrow?"

"Wait!" Angela exclaimed, running in front of her friend and blocking her way. "I'll get it." she cracked open her bedroom door and shut it in her friend's face. Brennan heard a bit of rustling and some mumbling, before the door opened and a purple pillowcase hit her in the face. "Have fun!" Angela called from her bedroom.

Brennan rolled her eyes. "You too!" she called back. "See ya later, Hodgins!" she called as she made her way out.

"Bye, Brennan!" a male voice called from the bedroom. Then there was the sound of a smack and the same voice calling out in pain.

Brennan laughed to herself and shut off the light and locked the door behind her.

-x-

"Rawr!" Parker exclaimed as he came towards her, arms raised as he acted like a scary monster.

Brennan laughed and ran away from him, trying her best to look scared. She hadn't had this much fun in years!

She tripped and fell to the grass, laughed as Parker jumped on her and pretended to eat her, making growling noises and tickling her while she laughed.

Suddenly he was lifted off of her by a pair of strong arms. "Okay, buddy!" Booth's voice said above her. "Let's not get too rough now. We want Bones to be uninjured for trick or treating, right?"

Parker nodded and growled, "Yes."

Brennan laughed and turned so that she could see his face and her heart almost burst when she came face to face with that gorgeous smile of his. He had knelt down next to her and was now so close that if Brennan sat up their lips would meet...

"Bones?" Booth said, confused by her dazed expression. "You okay?"

Brennan shook her head, trying to clear it. "What? Yeah, I'm fine." She moved to sit up and Booth stood, much to her chagrin. He stuck out his hand to help her up, and Brennan took it, feeling a shock as soon as their skin met. She looked up into his eyes and was sure she could see the same thing in his that were surely reflected in her own, though Science told her she couldn't possibly know that for a fact.

Booth grinned at her as he pulled her up, his heart beating wildly as their eyes remained connected, even as she got shakily to her feet.

They stood there for a moment, just staring into each other's eyes until a small tugging at Brennan's dress broke her out of her trance. She looked down to see Parker standing there, a determined expression on his face.

"Come on, Bones!" he said. "Let's go trick or treating!" he began pulling her arm in the direction of his neighbor's house. Brennan actually lost grip of Booth's hand and she was pulled away and she looked back at him with a smile. He smiled back and began following them, flexing the hand that had just been clasped with hers, as it tingled uncontrollably.

Brennan did the same with her hand as she followed Parker to the first house.

Nearly two hours later, and about fifty or so houses later, they found themselves with a sleeping four year old (hanging off Booth's shoulder), three large bags full of candy, and incredibly sore feet.

Brennan carried two of the three bags and Booth carried the third in his free hand, while he cradled his son in the other.

As they walked up the pathway to Booth's duplex, Brennan smiled at him. "I had a really fun time." she said, softly. "I haven't been trick or treating since I was about fifteen."

"Why so long?" Booth asked, as he handed her his candy bag and pulled out his key.

Brennan looked away. "It's a long story." she said. "You probably wouldn't want to hear it anyway."

"Hey." Booth said, softly, turning to her. "Look, I won't think any less of you for whatever reason you have, Bones. You don't even have to tell me if you don't want to, but I don't want you to feel like you cn't tell me anything, alright. I promise no matter what you tell me I won't think any less of you. You're an amazing person, no matter what."

Brennan smiled. "You really think so?"

Booth grinned back and nodded. "Of course."

Brennan blushed and looked down. "Like I said, it's a long story."

"I'll put him down and make some coffee." Booth said, allowing her to step across the threshold before him. "There are some things I'd like to share, as well."

Brennan nodded and made her way to a small living room where she sat on an old couch in front of a small television and waited for Booth to come back out.

When he did, he was smiling. "Wow, he's out like a light. I could've dropped him and he wouldn't have even blinked."

"I hope you didn't though." Brennan said, standing up and following him to the kitchen where he made some instant coffee and poured it into two mugs for them, handing one to her.

Booth laughed. "Don't worry." He said. "I was careful."

"Good." Brennan said, taking a sip. "So...you wanna go first or should I?"

Booth sighed. "Your choice."

Brennan nodded and took a deep breath. "My parents disappeared when I was fifteen, right before Christmas. Then my brother left me to Foster Care before the New Year. Thankfully, my best friend, Angela's, father took me out before I turned sixteen. I've been living with her ever since."

Booth just sat there and listened with a shocked expression that made Brennan blush. "I guess it wasn't a very long story." she mumbled, looking down.

She felt Booth's hand grasp hers on the table. When she looked up, he was giving her an intense, understanding look. "Parker's mother left us." he blurted. "We were nineteen and we'd been living together for about six months. Parker didn't even have his first tooth yet, and she just left one day. Said she couldn't handle a kid _and_ law school right now and she left. We haven't seen her since."

Brennan turned her hand so that it was now grasping his as her eyes filled with sorrow. "I'm so sorry." she said.

Booth shrugged. "It's okay, I guess. Parker and I are doing just fine without her. I've actually been taking some internet classes on law enforcement. As soon as I can afford school, I'm enrolling." He grinned at this thought.

Brennan smiled, too. "That sounds great. I'm sure you could get into Northwestern very easily."

Booth blushed. "Oh, I don't know about that." he said.

"I mean it, Booth." Brennan insisted. "You're smarter than you think. Where do you think Parker gets it?"

Booth grinned cockily. "You really think so?"

"Don't go getting a big head." she said, letting go of his hand and picking up her coffee cup to cover the grimace from the loss of contact. "You're already cocky as it is."

Booth chuckled. "All in the Booth charm, Ma'am." he said.

Brennan chuckled. "I bet." Her eyes flitted around the room, then to the clock on the far side of the room. They widened as she noticed the time. "I have to go." she said, standing up. "I have a class tomorrow."

"I'll call you a cab." Booth offered, pulling out his cell phone.

Brennan thanked him and went in search of her pillowcase. When she returned to the kitchen, Booth was standing by the sink, washing out his coffee mug. He turned when he felt her presence in the room. "Said he'd be here in about ten minutes. Sit and finish your coffee."

Brennan did so, but found that her coffee had grown cold. She made a face and Booth chuckled. "It can't be that bad." he said.

"You'd be surprised." Brennan said, bringing it over to the sink and standing next to him as she washed it out and he dried his.

Booth smiled at the domestic feeling he got from just standing next to her at the sink, washing coffee cups of instant coffee. This was her first time here and the first time she's really seen him without his uniform on, in the driver's seat of a bus. But something about it felt so natural.

He was taken from his thoughts when she handed him her cup and their fingers brushed slightly as their eyes met.

Without thinking, Booth brought his mouth down to hers, fusing their lips and moaning as she wrapped her arms around his neck. Booth dropped the coffee cup into the sink, not caring that the handle fell off as he wrapped his arms around her waist and sighed into her mouth as their tongues met.

Again, without thinking he lifted her onto the edge of the sink, their lips never parting and her hands weaved into his short brown hair, scratching lightly at his scalp as his hands weaved their way through her hair, getting lost in the soft tresses.

They were broken apart all too soon by the sound of a horn honking.

Booth stepped back, letting Brennan slide to the floor, matching blushes blooming up on their faces.

Brennan looked towards the ground, trying to steady herself on uneasy legs.

"Wow," Booth breathed, smiling slightly, "That was..."

"Yeah." Brennan sighed, chancing a glance at him.

He smiled down at her and she smiled shyly back. "So," Booth said, "I'll see you tomorrow?"

Brennan nodded. "Unless I fall ill during the night, then I suppose so."

Booth chuckled. "Good one, Bones." he said.

"I don't know what that means." she responded, blankly.

Booth chuckled again at the all too familiar phrase of hers. "I'll walk you to the door." he said, grabbing her pillowcase and leading her out by his hand on the small of her back.

Brennan smiled at the tingles that elicited and allowed him to lead her straight to the front door and out to the cab.

Before she got in, Booth grabbed her once more and pulled her towards him for a passionate parting kiss.

When they reluctantly pulled away, they were both smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow, Booth." Brennan said.

Booth smiled softly at her and opened the cab door. "I'll see you tomorrow, Bones."

Brennan smiled and pecked his lips again before climbing into the cab with her bag of candy and waving as the cab departed, watching him from the back as the cab and sighing to herself.

**REVIEWS!**


	27. The Party

**A new one shot for the new year! Enjoy!**

**The Party**

Twenty-two year old Temperance Brennan felt as if she were suffocating. There were _so _many people here. None of whom she recognized.

_Why did I let Michael talk me into this?_ She questioned herself, taking another sip of the questionable drink in her cup. Michael had told her it was some sort of fruity punch, but it had a slight kick to it that made Temperance sure that it had been spiked with alcohol of some kind. Perhaps Tequila?

Temperance had no idea, but it tasted wonderful and made her feel much more relaxed. But not enough to allow the boy standing behind her to nonchalantly feel her up, while he talked to another guy. Temperance turned to him with fire in her eyes. "Will you please stop caressing my posterior? I do not appreciate it!"

The boy, whose brown eyes were glassy with excessive consumption of alcohol, gave her a confused look. "Wha-?" he slurred. "I dunno what you just said? Wa-was that French or something?"

Temperance rolled her eyes as the other, equally as drunk girl, giggled and in turn, the boy smiled at her. "Yes," she said, "Intoxication is quite humorous. Ha-ha. Just please keep him from touching me again." She directed this comment at the girl, as the boy was already staring lewdly at her chest. She turned back to him with disgust in her eyes. "If you keep ogling my breasts, I will be forced to cause you a _lot_ of pain."

His eyes met hers and he gave her a wide, cocky smile, that might have been considered charming if he were sober, or if this was any other girl than Temperance Brennan. "And _how_," he asked, leaning in closer, "is your hot little ass gonna cause me pain."

Temperance's eyebrows lifted at the challenge, before she turned and gently set her drink down on a nearby table. Turning back to the drunk boy, she eyed him up and down, calculatingly, trying to figure out where to start.

He grinned at her again, and posed like a model. "Like what you see?" Temperance glared at him and he grinned wider. "I know you do. Now, what do you say, me, you, and-" he turned back to address the other girl when he felt Temperance grab his arm and twist it around his back, before pushing him into a nearby wall.

The boy grunted in pain and dropped his drink. "What the hell?" he exclaimed. "Leggo of me, bitch!"

Temperance huffed and put more pressure on his arm, causing him to cry out. "_What _did you just call me?" she hissed in his ear.

"Agh! Let me go! You fucking bitch!"

Temperance's eyes narrowed and she was about to put more pressure on his arm that would either dislocate it or break it when she heard a voice from behind her. "Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Let him go!" She turned to see a boy with spiky brown hair and similar brown eyes to the boy she currently had pressed into the wall. Only this one looked much more sober and was much calmer about approaching her. He stood a few feet away, hands up in the air, as if letting her know he wouldn't hurt her. "Look," he said, "I have no idea what Jackass over there did, but I'm sorry if he offended you in any way or-" suddenly his eyes widened, in shock and anger. "Hey, he didn't hurt you, did he?" Temperance was about to respond when he directed his next question to the drunk boy. "Jared, I swear to God if you laid one finger on her, I'll-"

"He didn't hurt me!" Temperance said. "In fact I'm probably closer to hurting him right now."

The sober boy's face eased. "Okay, then, that's good. But, uh, what did he do exactly that has you pushing him into a wall?"

"Oh," Temperance said, "well, he touched me...inappropriately." she blushed as the words came out of her mouth. "I warned him first to back off, and-"

"And the dumb ass didn't get the message." Sober boy finished for her. "Yeah. I wish I could say that this doesn't happen often or even when he's sober, but then I'd be lying."

"You're his friend?" Temperance asked, not believing that they could be associated at all, except for the slight resemblance they had to each other. But before she could correct herself, he did it for her.

"No, I'm this idiot's older brother. And, on his behalf, I'm sorry he offended you in any way or upset you. He can really be sweet sometimes...when he wants to be."

"I find that very hard to believe." Temperance said.

Sober boy laughed and Jared turned his head to look at them. "Can you _please_ let go of me now?"

Temperance glared at him and pressed harder. "Not until you apologize." she said.

Jared looked to his brother for help, but Sober boy put up his hands. "Don't look at me, Jarhead. This is your problem. Not mine."

Jared glared at him. "Fine." he ground out. "I'm _sorry_."

"_For_?" Temperance asked, calmly, making Sober boy laugh.

"For touching your ass." Jared mumbled.

"And...?"

Jared looked over at his brother, and then quickly turned away in shame. "And for calling you a bitch." he murmured.

Sober boy groaned. "_Jared!_" he scolded.

Temperance let him go and stepped away, knocking into Sober boy and feeling tingles all over as his hands reached out to stabilize her.

For a moment, he let his hands rest on her hips, and her crystal blue eyes met his chocolatey brown ones and Temperance almost smiled at the blush that spread across his face as he finally realized where his hands were.

"Oh, sorry!" he said, removing his hands.

Temperance chuckled. "That's okay." she said, before turning to look at Jared. "I hope your brother learned his lesson."

Sober boy chuckled darkly. "Not likely. Jared can be a little...well, a little thick-headed." He eyed his brother, who was trying to stretch out his arm. "I doubt he'll even remember any of this in the morning."

"Well, then, it might have been helpful to him if you let me fracture his arm. Then, he may have learned."

Sober boy shook his head. "Nah. Girls and guys alike have done worse to him and yet he never learns."

"That's because you keep stepping in." Temperance pointed out. "And, though your brother is an _idiot_ as you say, he's smart enough to know that if his big brother is around, he'll be safe. You have to stop protecting him."

"How are you so sure I'm always protecting him?" he asked, becoming a little annoyed. "You just met me."

Temperance chuckled. "And already I can see that you're the typical Alpha-male. Protecting, dominant, somewhat more mature than the others. Protecting is what you do. But, in this case, you have to stop protecting your brother and let him get on with his own life, or else he'll never mature."

Sober boy scoffed. "Whatever." he huffed, before walking to his brother and pulling him by the collar. "I better not hear about you treating any other girls with disrespect, Jared, or I'll beat your face in so bad, you won't be able to distinguish it from your ass. I mean it! Holly," he turned to the drunk girl. "Make sure this idiot doesn't drive anywhere tonight."

The girl nodded, and took something out of her pocket. "He already gave me his keys, just in case. Here, take them." she handed the keys to Sober boy and he grinned at the shocked expression on Jared's face.

"HOLLY!" he yelled. Holly shrugged.

"What? I'm not driving tonight, and neither are you. Not in your condition."

Jared groaned. "Whatever. Just give me my keys in the morning. Kay?"

Sober boy nodded. "Sure. Whatever." he grunted, before leaving his brother to continue talking and drinking with the drunk girl, who seemed overly distressed about his arm, and he was milking it for all he was worth.

Sober boy rolled his eyes at Temperance, who shook her head. "He's never going to learn this way." she said.

"Yeah, but at least he'll be safe for the night." he said, looking far more distressed than Temperance thought appropriate.

"You look upset." she commented. "Is there something here that is upsetting you?" she was worried that that something was her. It wouldn't be the first time she inadvertently upset somebody.

"No." he said, shaking his head. "I'm fine." suddenly his eyes widened and he looked up at her. "Oh, I'm Booth by the way. Seeley Booth, but please, don't call me Seeley."

Temperance smiled and nodded. "I feel the same about my first name sometimes." she said. "My name is Temperance, by the way. Temperance Brennan. Your welcome to call me by either name, but I prefer my last."

Booth stuck out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Brennan." he said, cordially.

Temperance smiled, liking the way her name sounded on his lips. "Likewise, Booth." she said.

Booth grinned charmingly at her and shook her hand. "So," he said, when their hands separated and his tingled as if he had just stuck it in a light socket. "You here with anybody?"

Temperance nodded. "Yeah. I'm here with an old professor of mine, Michael Stires. Do you know him?"

Seeley's face fell. "Oh, uh, yeah. Professor Stires. He came through here before but, uh, he, well, he was with another girl. _Two_ other girls, actually. I'm sorry."

Temperance felt a pang of hurt go through her but schooled her features so that it wouldn't show. After all, monogamy in human nature was absurd, not to mention impossible. "Oh, well, that's fine then." she said. "He's a grown man. He's allowed to have intercourse with whoever he wants. Monogamy is an antiquated concept, anyway."

Booth's eyes widened and he visibly blushed. "Oh, well, okay. I just, I dunno, I think the guy's kind of a dick, though."

Temperance cocked her head in confusion. "He doesn't exactly look like a penis to me, nor is his name Richard, so..."

Booth seemed to choke on his tongue at that. He chuckled nervously. "Um, actually, that's not quite what I meant..."

"Oh, then what did you mean?"

Booth's eyes widened, as he eyed her, trying to discern if she was playing with him or if she was actually serious. Her curious blue eyes searching his told him that she was serious. "Um, never mind." Booth said. "He just doesn't seem like a good guy to me."

"He's a good professor." Temperance offered. "And a good lover."

Booth started to choke again and Temperance's eyes widened. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Do you need water or something?"

"No, no, I'm fine." Booth coughed. "Y-you _slept_ with him already?"

Temperance nodded. "Yes. He-he took my virginity, actually."

Booth's coughing intensified and Temperance reached out to hit him on the back, trying to get the coughing to stop. "Are you sure you're okay?" she asked.

Booth nodded. "Yeah." he choked out. "I'm okay. But...how old are you, exactly?"

"Twenty-two."

Booth choked even more. "Twenty-two, and you just _now_ lost your virginity? To your professor?"

Temperance nodded. "Yes, is that unusual? How old were you?"

"Uh...I was-I was sixteen." He stammered. "But, but I-uh...that's not important. Did-did this guy even take you out on a date before he-he took your..." he motioned with his hands.

Temperance grinned. "My virginity?" she asked. "No. He didn't. I simply propositioned him. This is the first night he's taken me out."

Booth frowned. "Oh, well, I'm sorry."

Temperance furrowed her eyebrows. "Why are you sorry?"

"He should have at least taken you out on a date before he...slept with you. I was dating Katie for at least six months before we took that step."

"Katie?" Temperance asked.

"The girl who too my virginity." Booth explained.

Temperance nodded in understanding. "Well, I wasn't really looking for a relationship. Just an introduction."

"An introduction to what?" Booth asked.

"Sex, of course. What else?"

Booth groaned. "There are plenty of other ways for you to be introduced to sex other than 'propositioning' your professor, Brennan." he said.

"Such as...?"

"Well, you know, going to a party like this one, meeting a guy your own age, talking with him, asking him to dance, and maybe he'll walk you home..."

"And then he'll have sex with me?" Temperance asked.

"Not if he's a gentleman."

"What would he do if he were a gentleman?" Temperance asked, not really caring much for the answer.

Booth smiled and leaned in slightly. "He'll say goodnight, ask you on a second date, maybe, and perhaps he'll even kiss you goodnight, but he won't take it farther than that. At least that night."

Temperance found herself mesmerized by her words. "Then what?" she asked.

"He'll take you on a second date, if you accept, and perhaps a few more than that, feel you out, you know, before he makes that crucial move that may lead to something more."

"You mean like sexual intercourse?" Temperance asked.

Booth shook his head. "No, not just sex."

"Then what?"

"Making love, Brennan." Booth said, with a slight blush. "If you and this guy have a real connection, he won't just be having sex with you, he'll be making love to you, making you feel like the only person in the world that really matters. And if he does it right, you'll become one with one another."

"That's impossible, Booth." Temperance said, her voice slightly breathy. "Two objects cannot occupy the same space. It goes against the laws of physics."

Booth grinned. "That's exactly what it is, though, Bren. A miracle." He smiled charmingly at her. "So, what do you have to say to that?"

Temperance blushed and looked away for a moment, her head buzzing slightly, in part from the spiked drink she had earlier, and in part from...well, she really didn't know. All she knew is that it was making her a little more bold.

She looked up into Booth's chocolatey brown eyes. "Would you like to dance?" she asked, breathily.

Booth smiled. "I thought you'd never ask."

**Bit corny, huh? Lolz! Happy new year, everybody! Please REVIEW!**


	28. DW ch 4

**Part FOUR! Enjoy!**

**Different Worlds Part 4**

The first thing Brennan noticed when she woke up was not the fact that she wasn't alone or that the person she was with in bed had his face buried in her chest and his arm slung loosely across her waist. No, at this point that was completely normal.

It had been nearly two months since she and Booth had decided to give them a try, and things were going great. Seeley would invite her to his room every night and they would make love for hours before passing out and Brennan would wake up before the sun in order to make it to her room before Hank woke up. When she made it back to her room she usually had another hour or two to sleep before she had to start her chores. Then for the entire day, any time she and Booth saw each other, they would have to act normal and resist the urge to grab each other. (This urge was usually suppressed when they met for a quickie at around lunch time.)

That had been their life for the past eight weeks and Brennan couldn't remember being this happy since before her mother died.

But today...Temperance couldn't place it but something felt very different this morning. Looking around the room, she couldn't place anything different about it. They were in Seeley's vast bedroom, where she'd been waking up for the past two months, their clothes strewn over the length of the floor, something that happened often when she came to his chambers late at night, and Seeley was once again using her breasts as a pillow, while one of her hands rested in his hair, absently scratching at his skull. All this was achingly familiar, yet there was something slightly different and unfamiliar about it.

Brennan shut her eyes, attempting to ignore the problem, at least for the next couple of seconds before she would have to get up and...

Brennan's eyes shot open and flew to the closed curtains on the far side of the room, where a small sliver of light was just visibly coming out from underneath them.

"Shit!" Brennan exclaimed as she shot up in bed, knocking Booth to the side and causing him to roll straight off the edge of the bed, onto the floor.

When he fully came to consciousness and saw that he was laying on the floor, tangled in his own sheets, he poked his head over the side. "What's wrong?" He mumbled. "You okay?"

Brennan was already half-dressed and was bustling around the room, looking for her shirt. "I slept in." she explained. "Where's my shirt?"

"I dunno." Booth answered. "But remind me why it's such a crisis that you slept in, again."

Brennan shot him a look. "Because, if your grandfather finds out-"

"Bren, Pops is out of town, remember? He won't be back for at least two more days. We're fine." He stood up and moved towards her, stopping her in her tracks, and wrapping his arms around her.

Brennan sighed into his embrace. She'd forgotten that Hank had left town for awhile to settle some issues with his estate. She relaxed at the thought that they were safe...for now. "But what if he came home early, as a surprise and decided to come wake you up? What, then?"

Booth shrugged and leaned leaned his head down to kiss her neck. "Then we deal with it." He murmured against her skin. "I was actually thinking that, maybe, when Pops got home, we could-"

Brennan stopped him with a hand to his lips. "No." she said, sternly. "We are not telling your grandfather anything about this."

Booth removed her hand from his lips. "But, Bren-"

"_No_, Seeley." she said, even more sternly this time as she stepped out of his embrace and turned around to look him in the eyes. "We can't tell him."

"But, why?" Booth asked, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist. "Look, I know I said I was okay with hiding this at first but-"

Brennan cut him off with her lips and he moaned into her kiss for a moment before pulling back and resting his forehead on hers. "That's not gonna work this time, Bren." he said. "We have to talk about this. I think Pops would be ecstatic if he found out-"

Brennan shook her head and pulled back. "No." she said. "He would be livid. He would kick me out of here and I would never see you again."

"No, he wouldn't." Booth insisted. "Trust me. He likes you more than Jared and I combined, and we're his grandsons! If anything, I'd be the one he kicked out!"

"That's not much better." Brennan said, frowning.

Booth chuckled. "Maybe not, but honestly, do you really think he could keep me away from you? Or vice versa?" He brought one hand up to cup her cheek, rubbing his thumb gently against her lip. "He can't keep us away from each other, Bren. I-I love you."

Suddenly, Brennan pulled away and looked at him in complete shock and horror. "Wh-what?" she asked, horrified as if he'd slapped her.

Booth stepped forward and made a grab for her hands. "I said, I love you." he said, holding tight to her hands when she made a move to tear them away. "Temperance, what's wrong?" he asked.

"I-I can't be here right now." Brennan said, avoiding his gaze. "Y-you don't know what you're saying and I-I have work to do. I-I'm sorry, Booth, but I have to-"

Booth cut her off with his lips, like she did before. When he pulled back, her arms were wrapped around his neck and his were wrapped around her waist. Brennan sighed. "How do you do that?"

Booth grinned, chuckling. "It's not that hard." he said, nuzzling her nose with his. "Now, tell me, why do you have to go?"

"Because, I have wo-"

"The truth, Temperance." Booth said, in almost an ordering tone.

Brennan looked away and Booth followed her gaze as best he could, making sure she could see his eyes. "Brennan," he said, softly. "Talk to me. Please?"

Brennan shook her head. "I can't." she choked out over a sob.

When she didn't elaborate, Booth tipped up her chin so that their eyes met. "You can't what?" He asked, softly.

Brennan shook her head and back away, locating her shirt within a few seconds and snatching it up. "I can't stay. I-I have work to do and C-Cam is going to-"

Booth grabbed her hand as she slipped it through the sleeve of her shirt. "Brennan, I'll take care of Cam. You don't have to-"

"_Please_, Seeley." Temperance nearly sobbed, looking into his eyes. "Just let me go for right now. Please?"

The desperation in her eyes is what made Booth let go of her hand and step back. "Okay." he said. "I-I'll see you tonight?" He didn't dare push for lunch, but the thought of not seeing her tonight and falling asleep with her in his arms was too much for him to take.

Brennan took a deep breath and nodded, buttoning up her shirt. "Of-of course." she said. "I-I'll see you tonight." She said, before walking straight to the door and walking out, not even bothering to close it behind her.

**REVIEWS!**


	29. Slave

**New smutty oneshot, made special for V-day! This is what I do instead of going out on dates, and I do it for you! So, enjoy!**

**Slave**

Eighteen year old Prince Seeley woke up feeling...strange. It was Valentine's day, the day for lovers, for flowers and romance, and yet...he had nobody.

This thought distressed the Prince more than it should have, for though he had a fairly new son, Parker, only a year-old, and whose mother refused to wed the Prince, much to Seeley's grandfather's, the King, dismay, the Prince didn't get to see the boy very much, and he would spending time with his mother on this day. The King was in a different country, and the Prince's younger brother was off with his own exotic fiance, doing Lord-knows-what.

So the Prince of Jefferson was alone on Valentine's day. Except for the many servants and slaves that worked in the castle, some of which were his friends. One such slave, his favorite, was a girl his age, Temperance. Temperance had been working for their family since she was very young, as a servant girl who simply helped out her mother, who was a cook in the kitchen. Since then, her mother had passed away and Temperance became the cook, making the most delectable meals the kingdom had ever known, with the help of her own staff, which the King had brought on by her request. He told noone this, but he looked at Temperance as the daughter he never had and wished very much that he could hire her as a full-time chef, but the law wouldn't allow it, and it wasn't in his power to change the class laws.

Seeley wished more than anything, as well, that Temperance could be part of his class, or part of a class higher than slave, but when one is born into something...

He sighed. Well, at least she could still be his friend without anybody questioning it. Most everyone in his class became friends with the help. They were the people that you trusted handling your food and dirty laundry. If you wanted something done the way specified, you had to make sure to keep them happy and cordial. People in other kingdoms questioned this theory. Why would you need to keep your help happy? Couldn't you just fire or execute them if they didn't do the job right?

Well, you could, but many of the slaves would rather die than serve an ungrateful master, and executing them for refusing service, especially when they weren't even being paid, was wasteful and quite stupid.

But Seeley sometimes wish they could be more than friends, though it was illegal. He wished that Temperance could be his wife. He would marry her in a heartbeat if he could. But the best he could get in this messed up political system was a lover and he was more than certain that Temperance would never agree to something like that. She was too respectable, even for a slave.

Plus, she probably didn't feel the same for him. After all, he was her Master, and such thoughts would be improper.

But, still, one could hope.

Seeley felt his stomach let out a long, low growl, and patted it. Time for food. He thought with a smile as he got up, out of his bed. He was only wearing a pair of sweatpants and his St. Christopher necklace. His chest was bare and for a second he thought about getting on an undershirt to wear to the kitchen, but thought better of it. With a wicked smile he walked out of his room, a plan forming in his head as he made his way to the kitchen.

HEARTS#HEARTS#HEARTS

Temperance Brennan, known as Bones by her Master, Seeley Booth, for some odd reason, sat at the counter in her kitchen, a mug of coffee cupped in her hands. She looked down into the cup, allowing the steam from the coffee to warm her face. It was one of the coldest days of the Winter, and appropriately so for such a silly holiday. Temperance rolled her eyes.

_Valentine's Day. _Such a foolish holiday. Meant to honor loved ones and 'that special someone'. Temperance huffed. Ridiculous. The entire holiday was just plain and simple bull.

Temperance didn't believe in monogamy and she especially resented it on this day, when couples acted as if they were meant to be together forever, when, in reality, they were almost destined to break apart the following week.

It sickened her. So, instead of venturing out into the market place on this day, she requested that her best friend, Angela, go out for her. Angela, of course, agreed, like she did every year. She loved going out into the town, watching the happy couples embracing and sharing their lives with each other. Sometimes it took her hours to do the shopping since she would just stop and watch, in awe, as the men greeted their women with flowers and candy and the women would welcome them with kisses. When she returned, with cold groceries, she would share with Temperance all the things she saw that day and Temperance, in turn, would listen with one ear as she prepared supper.

Usually Temperance tuned Angela out, but sometimes she told a very interesting story that Temperance couldn't help but smile at, despite her fore-mentioned avoidance of all things romantic.

This morning, Temperance had already sent Angela off to the market and she'd been gone at least an hour. Temperance suspected she'd be gone at least another four.

She sipped her coffee and sighed, allowing the silence of the morning to surround her.

At least until a banging on the door interrupted her thoughts. Her head shot up, her blue eyes snapping towards the door, where the face of her Master and friend, Prince Seeley Booth stuck in his head, hair still messy from sleep.

"Hey, Bones." he greeted, in a gravelly voice. His sleepy voice, Temperance recognized, with a smile.

"Good morning, Master Booth." she greeted, formally, knowing that it would annoy him.

It did. "Bones." Seeley grumbled. "I told you not to call me that. Pops is Master Booth. I'm just plain, old, sexy Booth." He shot her his signature charm smile, to which she rolled her eyes, hiding a smile. "Anyways, can I persuade you to make me some breakfast. I'm _starving_!"

Temperance chuckled. "You're _always_ hungry, Booth." she laughed, standing up and walking over to the cabinets, pulling out a mug. "Coffee?"

"Of course." Booth laughed, stepping fully into the room and taking his own seat at the counter, still completely bare-chested and waiting for Temperance to turn around and notice.

When she turned around with his coffee, Temperance nearly dropped the mug.

There he sat, her Master's grandson, bare-chested, but for his St. Christopher medal, at the counter, his muscular arms folded on the counter top in front of him, smiling up at her. "Problem?" he asked, noticing the faint blush on her cheeks.

Temperance took a deep breath. "No." she said, letting the air out slowly as she continued on her way to the counter, placing the coffee in front of him. "Just thought you'd dress a bit more appropriately in _my _kitchen." She shot him a stern look before returning to the cupboards and pulling out the frying pan and some vegetable oil. She poured the oil in the pan and set it on the stove. Then she walked to the fridge and pulled out his bacon, which she refused to eat due to the danger of clogged arteries, but he loved despite her warnings of early death. She avoided his eyes the entire time.

Booth watched her with barely-disguised adoration as she fried his bacon, awed over the things she did for him, despite her warnings that it would eventually kill him, and her aversion to all red meat in general. His eyes raked over her thin figure, from her hair, tied up in a messy bun atop her head, to the light blue dress she wore with three-quarter length sleeves and went down to her knees. The spotless white apron she wore tied around the waist and didn't cover her chest, or the silver chain she wore around her neck, on which hung a small locket with her mother's picture tucked inside. On her feet, Temperance wore a pair of simple worn ballet flats.

Her style was simple at best, but to Booth she was the most beautiful and desirable woman in the entire kingdom. In his eyes, there was nobody better.

Booth didn't even notice when she finished frying the bacon and started on his omelet, until she'd turned around with his food on the plate and placed it in front of him. "Orange or Apple?" she asked, meaning what juice he would take that morning.

"Orange." Booth said, once he'd shaken off his thoughts. "Would you like to join me for breakfast?" He asked the same question every morning and he always received the same answer.

"I shouldn't. I have to start prepping for dinner." she said.

Booth grinned. "It's Valentine's Day, Bones. Angela's gonna be at the market all day. You don't have anything _to prepare_, and we both know it. Now get your oatmeal, or your vegetarian-whatever, and sit down." It sounded like an order, but Temperance knew she was free to decline if she really wanted to.

But, she didn't really want to. So, she just shrugged and started preparing her own breakfast of fresh fruit and iced tea, and sat across from Booth, still not looking him in the eye as she dug in.

Booth watched her for a few moments before he spoke up. "Bones?" he asked, curiously.

Temperance looked up, quizzically. "Hmm?" she inquired, her blue eyes shining in the dim light of the kitchen and the sun coming through the window.

"Are you okay there?" he asked.

Temperance nodded, trying to look him straight in the eye, but her gaze kept on drifting down. "Of course." she practically squeaked. She cleared her throat. "Why wouldn't I be?"

Booth grinned, noticing where her gaze kept landing. "No reason. It just seems like you're a little distracted this morning." He smiled as he saw her gaze drift down again. "Hey, Bones! My eyes are up here. 'Kay?" Temperance's eyes snapped to his face.

"Of course they're up there, Booth. Where else would they be?"

Booth grinned. Always so oblivious, Bones. He thought, wistfully to himself as he took another bite of his bacon.

Temperance speared the last piece of fruit and shoved it into her mouth, then stood up and walked over to the sink, washing out her bowl and setting it on the drying rack.

She'd planned to make a quick exit from the kitchen, with some excuse about making a bathroom run or a run to the greenhouse for cooking herbs, but when she turned around, she almost fell back into the sink at the sight of a strong, muscular chest right before her eyes. And as her eyes scanned upwards, she met the smoldering gaze of one Seeley Booth, and the look on his face stole her breath away, especially when she saw him lick his lips.

"Booth," she sighed, "what are you-" before she could finish her question, Booth's lips came down on hers in a knee-weakening kiss that just about knocked her off her feet. And she could do nothing but hold on to him, for dear life, as she kissed the air and sense out of her. When the need for air became necessary, Booth's lips untangled from hers and he rested his forehead on hers. "What...was that...for?" Temperance asked, her head swimming as she tried to regain her focus.

Booth smiled slightly. "I have no idea." Booth replied. "But I'd really like to do it again."

Temperance smiled. "I'd really like that as well." she breathed, and Booth chuckled, bringing his lips back down to hers.

**Oops! It's gonna have to be a two-shot, because it's after eleven and my Dad's about to kill me for being up so late. Until tomorrow, good night! And happy Valentine's Day!S**


	30. Bus Driver 4

**Sorry it's been so long but I didn't really have any ideas for this oneshot thing but I just recently got an idea for a continuation of Bus Driver, so here it is. Enjoy!**

**Bus Driver (Part 4)**

Brennan woke up the next morning with a content smile on her lips; the memory of Booth's on hers the night before making them tingle. Her heart swelled with excitement at the prospect of seeing him again. She dressed with extra care that morning, borrowing some of Angela's make up and working a few extra minutes on her hair. There was a slight chill in the air so Brennan got out a North Western hoodie and tied a scarf around her neck, throwing on her coat over them. Her hair fell around her shoulders again but this time she wore a red knit hat on her head. One look in the mirror told her that she was probably about as ready as she could get. She grabbed her bag and left, calling out her goodbyes to Angela and Hodgins, who'd spent the night _again_.

When Brennan saw the bus roll up, her heart fluttered and she smiled back at the man sitting in the driver's seat as he unbuckled his seat belt and swooped down the stairs, pinning her against the bus and sealing their lips together. Brennan moaned into the kiss and ran her hands up to weave around his neck, reveling in the feeling of his lips on hers for a few more seconds before she pulled back, resting her forehead against his, breathing heavily.

"Booth…the bus…you have to…" she took a deep breath. "I'm going to be late for class," she said, stroking his cheek.

Booth chuckled and nodded. "Yeah," he said, "yeah, I know. I just-I couldn't help it, ya know?"

Brennan nodded. "Yes, I know." She pecked his lips once more before pushing him away. "Now, let's go."

Booth nodded and pulled her by the hand onto the bus after him; squeezing it before letting it go so she could pay and take her seat next to Parker, who was lying down on their seats. He smiled up at her, before moaning slightly.

Brennan frowned. "Parker, what's wrong?" she asked, concern lacing her voice.

Booth snorted. "He just has a little tummy-ache; I caught him sneaking candy out of his bag this morning. Apparently, he's been doing that all night. He'll be fine. He just needs to sleep it off."

Parker groaned again and Brennan looked down at the small boy with part-sympathy and part-disappointment, before lifting his head and taking her seat, allowing him to rest in her lap as she stroked the blonde locks, soothingly. Parker smiled softly and buried his nose in the soft material of her sweatshirt, curling one tiny fist around one end of her scarf. Brennan smiled down at him and relaxed for the rest of the ride, looking out the window as she stroked the boy's hair. Before she knew it, they were at her University. When she got up, Parker moaned, but not from his 'tummy-ache'.

"Don't go!" he whined, holding onto her scarf.

Brennan frowned. "Parker, I have to go," she said, "I have classes to go to." Parker pouted up at her and she frowned, her heart clenching. "I'll see you later. Okay?"

"You promise?" he asked, looking truly worried.

Brennan nodded. "Yes, of course," she said, kneeling down in front of the seat so that he was at eye level, "I promise." Parker nodded and threw his arms around her neck, catching Brennan by surprise.

"I love you, Bones," he mumbled into her neck and Brennan's eyes widened as she hugged him back.

"I-I love you, too, Parker," she stuttered, not realizing until that moment that it was completely true. She knew she adored the little boy, that he had a special place in her heart, as corny as that sounded, and she knew, especially _now_, of her feelings for his father, but love…love was not typically a word she used; not since her family abandoned her. Brennan wondered if love is what she felt for Booth, as well. Pulling back, she looked into the little boys brown eyes and smiled at him, kissed him on the forehead and stood up. "I'll see you later, okay? Have fun at school and…um, be good." She felt strange saying it but Parker seemed to take it seriously and nodded solemnly at her, waving at her before settling back in his seat.

When Brennan made her way to the front of the bus, she turned to Booth and he smiled at her, pulling her down for a soft kiss. He noticed her dazed expression and looked at her in concern. "Bones, you okay?"

Brennan nodded, smiling slightly. "Parker said he loved me."

Booth grinned. "Yeah, I know. I've known for a while. He _adores_ you. That's okay, right? Not weird or anything?"

Brennan shook her head. "Not at all, considering how much time we've spent together. I think I can honestly say I feel the same for him. He's a very special little boy, Booth." She smiled warmly back at the little boy who was currently dozing against the window, his eyes half shut as he fought sleep.

Booth smiled up at her and grabbed her hand. "Yeah, he is. You're pretty special yourself, you know?"

Brennan looked at him and chuckled. "Oh, really?"

Booth nodded. "Yeah. You're rare and you're beautiful…like a tiger."

"Tigress," Brennan corrected, "But I understand your meaning. Thank you, Booth." She leaned down to kiss him again.

"Mmm, no problem," Booth said, grinning cockily. He stared deeply into her eyes, before squeezing her hand. "Have dinner with me tonight."

"What?"

"Dinner. You know, the meal after lunch and before bedtime? Ever heard of it?"

Brennan rolled her eyes. "Of course I've heard of it. But what are we going to do about Parker? Is he coming with us?" She didn't mind either way, but she would like to have Booth to herself for a couple hours, for a real date.

Booth shook his head. "My grandfather can watch him tonight. Parker loves visiting Pops. And Pops loves having Parker around, especially since Parker is so easy to beat at dominoes."

Brennan chuckled. "If you're sure…"

"Of course I'm sure. I wouldn't ask if I weren't, right?"

Brennan nodded. "Okay, then. I'll see you later."

"Seeya, Bones." Booth kissed her again, before letting her go, waving at her when she turned in front of her building for one last look.

Brennan could feel her heart thundering in her chest as she entered the school, already counting the seconds until she could see him again.

**Okay, this wasn't as good as I hoped but I'm distracted by my Creative Writing midterm, which has to be 8-15 pages, is due next Monday, and hasn't been started…so yeah… but a REVIEW or two might be a nice way to lift my spirits and help out my creativity! **


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